Consultation liaison psychiatry in Africa - essential service or unaffordable luxury?
Journal Article
2011
Permanent link to this Item
Authors
Journal Title
African Journal of Psychiatry
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Publisher
University of Cape Town
Faculty
License
Series
Abstract
Consultation liaison psychiatry (CLP) - also known as psychosomatic medicine - is the psychiatric subspecialty that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders/difficulties in complex medically ill patients. “Complex medically ill”1 are patients with active medical, neurological, obstetrical or surgical condition(s) or symptoms, who also meet one of the following criteria: • Patients with an acute or chronic medical, neurological, or surgical illness in which psychiatric morbidity is actively affecting their medical care and/or quality of life. Examples include acute or chronic psychiatric patients with HIV infection, organ transplantation, brittle diabetes, heart disease, renal failure, a terminal illness, cancer, stroke, traumatic brain injury, COPD, high-risk pregnancy, among others. • Patients with a somatoform disorder or with psychological factors affecting a physical condition (“psychosomatic condition”) • Patients with a psychiatric disorder that is the direct consequence of a primary medical condition.
Description
Reference:
Vythilingum, B., & Chiliza, B. (2011). Consultation liaison psychiatry in Africa–essential service or unaffordable luxury?. African journal of psychiatry, 14(4), 257-257.