Psychopatology of inpatients in a general hospital

Abstract

Despite its importance for diagnosis, treatment and cost of attention, few studies have tried to determine the prevalence of psychophatological symptoms in patients hospitalized for medical reasons. We present a study designed to detect psychopatological symptoms in patients of the Hospital del Salvador of Santiago, using the twelve-items version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A team of interviewers assesed the psychological consequences of child trauma and obtained sociodemographic data of patients hospitalized in Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, neurology, urology, traumatology and gynecology during a weekend in August 2001. Total sample consisted of 362 patients, of which 297 agreed to participate, 61.5% of the participants were females. Mean age for men was 57.8 years and 52.7 years for women. The prevalence of psychopatological symptoms (a score of at least 5 in the GHQ-12) was 46.4%. No correlation was observed between a higher score in the GHQ-12 and civil status, ocuppation or type of facility (medical or surgical). The high prevalence of comorbidity found confirms the importance of the detection and adequate care of the emotional disturbances in medical patients.