Table 4.
Profiles of patients discussed or seen by specialist respondent psychiatrists (SRP)
| Variables |
Total (n = 126) Mean (SD) |
Adult psychiatry (n = 94) Mean (SD) |
Child-adolescent psychiatry (n = 32) Mean (SD) |
P_value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient profile in percentages: | ||||
| a) Sociodemographic data: | ||||
| Age | ||||
| 18–30 years | 50.99 (32.16) | 34.31 (16.82) | 100 | 0.00 |
| 31–64 years | 37.20 (25.79) | 49.86 (15.99) | 0 | 0.00 |
| 65 + years | 11.81 (12.64) | 15.83 (12.27) | 0 | 0.00 |
| Marital status | ||||
| Single, widowed or divorced | 61.59 (24.21) | 52.66 (14.75) | 87.81 (27.56) | 0.00 |
| Married or with partner | 38.41 (24.21) | 47.34 (14.75) | 12.19 (27.56) | 0.00 |
| Income level | ||||
| High | 15.86 (20.80) | 11.63 (8.78) | 28.28 (36.04) | 0.00 |
| Average | 37.27 (18.39) | 38.31 (16.49) | 34.22 (23.14) | 0.27 |
| Low | 46.87 (21.13) | 50.06 (18.62) | 37.50 (25.27) | 0.00 |
| b) Mental health disorders (MHD)a: | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | P_value* |
| Common MHD | 92.73 (47.54) | 91.61 (48.54) | 96.04 (45.66) | 0.34 |
| Adjustment disorders | 20.91 (19.07) | 19.98 (18.24) | 23.66 (21.38) | 0.00 |
| Generalized anxiety | 25.17 (16.87) | 25.93 (18.46) | 22.97 (10.91) | 0.39 |
| Depressive disorders | 26.60 (17.68) | 31.99 (16.65) | 10.78 (9.07) | 0.00 |
| Attention deficit disorders with/without hyperactivity | 20.05 (21.11) | 13.72 (15.56) | 38.63 (24.36) | 0.00 |
| Severe MHD | 15.43 (10.63) | 18.87 (10.60) | 5.33 (6.55) | 0.00 |
| Bipolar disorders | 7.10 (8.30) | 8.86 (8.85) | 1.96 (2.38) | 0.00 |
| Psychotic disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, delirium) | 8.33 (10.41) | 10.01 (11.28) | 3.37 (4.58) | 0.00 |
| Personality disorders | 29.50 (20.01) | 33.69 (19.36) | 17.19 (17.20) | 0.00 |
| Substance-related disorders (SRD) | 29.53 (27.15) | 34.51 (24.56) | 14.93 (29.45) | 0.00 |
| Alcohol use disorders | 13.27 (12.79) | 15.90 (10.91) | 5.54 (14.83) | 0.00 |
| Drug use disorders | 16.26 (16.33) | 18.60 (15.88) | 9.39 (15.92) | .01 |
| Other (e.g. eating disorders, pain disorders, intellectual disability) | 19.44 (22.64) | 15.72 (18.49) | 30.36 (29.61) | 0.00 |
| MHD severity | 97.61 (15.30) | 97.87 (14.50) | 96.87 (17.67) | 0.72 |
| MHD 1e episode | 32.08 (25.23) | 25.74 (17.30) | 51.53 (34.02) | 0.00 |
| MHD 2e episode | 32.89 (18.51) | 37.41 (16.53) | 19.59 (17.82) | 0.00 |
| Chronic MHD | 32.44 (34.71) | 34.71 (19.77) | 25.75 (32.40) | 0.06 |
| c) Other clinical dimensions (not required to equal 100%) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | P_value* |
| High suicide risk | 14.33 (14.10) | 14.11 (13.94) | 15.00 (14.75) | 0.75 |
| High risk for aggressiveness | 11.79 (13.17) | 8.31 (8.64) | 22.03 (18.17) | 0.00 |
| Housing problems (e.g. homelessness, poor housing) | 10.51 (14.38) | 11.94 (12.69) | 6.31 (18.06) | 0.05 |
| Work problems (e.g. loss of employment) | 25.42 (22.09) | 33.20 (19.62) | 2.56 (9.49) | 0.00 |
| Problems with activities of daily living | 31.02 (21.57) | 29.60 (20.40) | 35.22 (24.55) | 0.20 |
| Chronic physical illnesses | 18.75 (17.02) | 24.00 (16.50) | 3.34 (4.77) | 0.00 |
| Social isolation | 24.78 (21.34) | 29.26 (22.00) | 11.63 (12.02) | 0.00 |
| d) Service use (not required to equal 100%): | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | P_value* |
| Having a family doctor | 66.61 (26.92) | 68.78 (25.60) | 60.31 (30.02) | 0.12 |
| Seeing a private psychologist | 10.97 (9.97) | 11.36 (9.89) | 9.81 (10.28) | 0.45 |
| Seeing a clinician in a MH team | 33.56 (30.75) | 25.23 (25.61) | 58.00 (31.94) | 0.00 |
| Using one or more MH community organizations | 15.49 (15.49) | 15.97 (13.76) | 14.09 (19.92) | 0.55 |
| Receiving services from addiction centers | 11.98 (10.56) | 13.46 (8.95) | 7.64 (13.53) | 0.01 |
| Being followed by youth centers | 8.76 (19.44) | 1.93 (10.55) | 28.84 (25.14) | 0.00 |
| Qualifying as high users of MH services (e.g. frequent emergency room use for MH reasons > 3 per year, multiple hospitalizations per year) | 14.43 (14.99) | 14.71 (13.75) | 13.60 (18.38) | 0.72 |
| e) Criteria justifying orientation of patients toward MH specialized services (5-point scale: 1 = Never; 2 = Rarely; 3 = Moderately often; 4 = Often; 5 = Very often): | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | P_value* |
| MHD too complex or too severe | 3.49 (.97) | 3.54 (.94) | 3.34 (.97) | 0.31 |
| Co-occurring MHD and SRD too complex or too severe | 2.90 (.86) | 3.08 (.79) | 2.37 (.85) | 0.00 |
| The primary care team has exhausted all intervention avenues, and none have worked | 2.82 (.72) | 2.80 (.73) | 2.89 (.68) | 0.55 |
| Needing direct and regular interventions by a psychiatrist | 3.13 (.92) | 3.06 (.88) | 3.06 (1.04) | 0.61 |
| Needing services offered by specialized MH services | 3.02 (1.00) | 3.01 (.97) | 3.03 (1.07) | 0.80 |
| Patients should be referred to specialized MH services, but refuse for various reasons including fear of stigma | 2.00 (.81) | 2.25 (.78) | 1.73 (.78) | 0.00 |
aPatients may have more than one mental disorder – total percentage may exceed 100%
*ANOVA t-test p value