[Frequency of psychiatric disorders in nonpsychiatric hospital patients]

A total of 322 hospitalized patients in the departments of internal medicine, abdominal and transplant surgery, accident surgery, neurology, ear-nose-throat, and orthopaedic surgery of the Medical Academy of Hannover, were screened with self-assessment tests. The tested patients represented about 78% of all inpatients during the test period. Very ill patients and those over 65 years were excluded. The prevalence of depression (95% confidence limit) was 16.1-24.9%, of severe social anxiety 20.7-30.3% of all patients. Both depression and anxiety were severe in 9.4% of all patients. Thus, taking both disorders together, 31.4-42% of all in-patients are likely to require more detailed psychological-medical diagnosis, and if indicated, psychotherapy. The prevalence of disorders varied greatly between the six departments, highest at 49.2% in internal medicine, lowest at 27.3% in the accident department.