Attitudes of nonpsychiatric physicians toward psychiatric consultation

The authors report on an opinion survey of 200 nonpsychiatric attending physicians at a university teaching hospital about the process and outcome of consultation psychiatry. Over-all, physicians felt that 37 per cent of their patients had problems with significant psychological components, but that consultation was indicated for only 11 per cent. Physicians reported a high level of global satisfaction with consultations; 68 per cent were satisfied frequently or almost always. Factor analysis reduced consultees' evaluations of 18 different consultation activities to five dimensions, with patient disposition considered the most important and services to medical and ward staff the least important. Analysis of differences by specialty revealed that family medicine physicians seemed the most oriented to psychological issues and surgeons the least.