Abstract

The investigator, a child psychiatry consultant for a pediatric service, studied 112 consecutive consultations, categorizing the presenting psychiatric problems, mental status, psychiatric diagnoses, final physical diagnoses, and psychiatric recommendations. The 112 patients represented 3.4% of all pediatric patients in the same age range admitted to the hospital. Girls comprised 59% of the sample studied. The most common presenting problems were unexplained physical symptoms, while the most frequent physical diagnoses were seizure disorder and diabetes. Psychiatric diagnoses were made for 82% of the patients seen; the most common diagnosis was “reactive” disorder. Specific recommendations for either inpatient or outpatient psychiatric care were made for 42 patients, of whom 23 were known to have followed through with the recommendations. However, most recommendations involved technics that could be applied by the primary care physician, eg, advice to parents, counseling the child, liaison with schools, direction of hospital staff.