Physical illness in a psychiatric ward, its assessment and management have been noted to be stressful and challenging (Puska et al, 2011). Co-morbidity is a concept in medicine defined as the co-occurrence of mental and physical disorders within the same person, and this is regardless of the chronological order in which they occurred or the causal pathway linking them (Goodell et al, 2011).
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) is the study of these co-morbidities between medical general conditions and psychiatric illnesses (Ene, 2008). The role of CLP is that of a link between psychiatry and other medical fields (Tema. & Janse Van Roseburg, 2015). Thus, the consultation-liaison psychiatrist is the psychiatry’s ambassador in the general hospital setting (Ene,2008). The psychiatrist will usually be the medical expert in the unit and it is the responsibility of the psychiatrist to recognize and treat these psychiatric conditions, and also to develop good working relationships with the patients and the clinical team (Bourgeois, 2020). Current data indicate these guidelines, with the psychiatrists playing an integral role (Oosthuizen, et al, 2008, Bourgeois, 2020, Scott, et al, 2021),
Recent studies of the diagnostic error have not focused on patients who are being treated in mental health clinics or inpatient psychiatric units; however, past studies of psychiatric patients found that important medical diagnoses were missed in these patients as often as 40% of the time, depending upon the setting (Koranyi, 1979). Moreover, these medical diagnoses were not uncommonly the sole cause or a significant contributing factor to the patients’ presentations (Koranyi, 1979).
It is well established that the pathways that cause co-morbidity of mental and medical disorders are both complex and bidirectional (McClain et al, 2021). Related to this is the fact that medical emergencies, some presenting as unusual or uncommon disorders among psychiatric patients, may receive delayed medical responses or remain undetected if medical emergency training and response are not in place (Oosthuizen, et al, 2008, Paulose et al, 2016), It has been reported that at an advanced age, serious medical and psychiatric illnesses usually coalesce. An example of this is the fact that some admissions to most inpatient geriatric psychiatric care arise because of these coexisting medical problems (Inventor & Hernandez, 2005). Mental disorders are often associated with one or more chronic physical diseases and lead to even more aggravating physical consequences for patient health (Dare et al, 2019). The number of people who receive initial emergency care, in a related study, increased their survival rate to 30% more than those who do not receive initial emergency care (Hert et al, 2011, Paulose et al, 2016). It is a matter of great concern that these medical emergencies, which sometimes cause diagnostic puzzles, may sometimes lead to negative patient outcomes, including death, among mentally ill patients (Katon, 2011). It had been reported that these persons have a 2 to 3 times higher risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases than the general population (Nordentoft, et al, 2013).
In a previous report, it was stated that the majority of deaths in persons with severe mental disorders are due to preventable physical diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and infections (Fekadu et al, 2018). Overall, cardiovascular diseases, orthopedic conditions, chronic respiratory, gastrointestinal, and cancer diagnoses, had been noted to be the most prevalent co-morbid medical conditions, while immunologic conditions are said to be the least prevalent with co-morbid psychiatric conditions (Scott et al, 2021). A study done at the outpatient clinic in Uyo Akwa Ibom Nigeria looked at only anxiety and depression co-occurring with medical conditions. It found out the distribution of medical disorders among respondents that were recruited for the study. Among those evaluated, 22.04% had cardiovascular disease(hypertension), 15.91% malaria, 14.28% gynecological disease (pelvic inflammatory disease), 7.75% digestive system disorder(peptic ulcer disease), 7.34% endocrine disorder (diabetes mellitus), 6.93% musculoskeletal disorder (osteoarthritis), 5.71% psychological disorders, 4.08% Urology (benign prostatic hyperplasia), blood and immune disorder(human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and respiratory disorder (upper respiratory tract infection), 2.4% skin disorders, 1.22% neurological disorders, and 0.81% ear, nose and throat disorders. Respondents that were diagnosed with hypertension had a p-value of 0.016 for anxiety and 0.025 for depression. Similarly, respondents with HIV/AIDS had a p-value of 0.006 (Umoh & Idung, 2016). The complexity of physical co-morbidities from clinical practice usually makes hospitalization imperative and thus requires intensive medical treatments combined with evidence-based psychosocial and behavioral interventions (Liu et al, 2017). Tests are sometimes limited and may be indicated (Beck and Steenstra, 2015). If more complex or rapid tests are needed to exclude a serious diagnosis, the patient is transferred to the emergency department or referred to other centers which may be time-consuming (Nishio et al, 2018).
Medical assessment among this category of mentally ill patients in psychiatric settings is usually done by history, physical examination, and often brain imaging and laboratory testing (First, 2020). This medical assessment of patients with mental symptoms seeks to identify physical disorders mimicking mental disorders, physical disorders caused by mental disorders or their treatment, and physical disorders accompanying mental disorders (Anderson, et al, 2017). Patients typically should have pulse oximetry, fingerstick glucose testing, measurement of therapeutic drug levels, urine drug screening, blood alcohol level, complete blood count, urinalysis, HIV testing, Serum electrolytes (including calcium and magnesium), blood urea and creatinine, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate or C-reactive protein (Anderson, et al, 2017). Imaging tests include Brain CT, Brain MRI, Thyroid function tests, Chest x-ray, Blood cultures, and Liver Function tests (psychiatry online, 2019). Conversely, a previous study demonstrated that patients presenting with a current primary psychiatric complaint and diagnosis or a previous psychiatric history and normal medical history and physical exam, have a very low likelihood of clinically significant laboratory findings (Amin & Wang, 2009).
The psychiatrist, must, therefore, have a high index of suspicion for co-morbidity when assessing patients and most specifically when decisions are made about treatments because the psychiatric treatments may also affect the medical conditions (Oosthuizen et al, 2008). This leads to process-based integration, which is conceptualized as integrated care, resulting in a fluid, interdisciplinary approach that generates benefits for the whole patient, and ultimately improves outcomes (Konder & Spreeuwenberg, 2002).
However, little is documented, on the uncommon current mental disorders diagnosed in patients receiving psychiatric care in hospital settings, especially in South-South Nigeria. The objective of this study was to characterize uncommon medical disorders and presentations, their diagnostic profiles, and co-existing with patients undergoing psychiatric care in hospital settings in South-South Nigeria between July 2021-July, 2022
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the need for integrating medical care in psychiatric facilities, with psychiatrists playing an integral role in this multi-disciplinary approach of integrated care, which determines the success of medical response and outcome strategies.