Consultation–Liaison Psychiatry in General Hospitals: Improvement in Physicians’ Detection Rates of Alcohol Use Disorders

BackgroundIn the general hospital setting, alcohol-use disorders very commonly remain undetected.ObjectiveThe authors hypothesized that including a consultation–liaison (C–L) psychiatrist in primary-care rounds would improve detection rates of alcohol-use-disorders.MethodPatients (N = 165) on two medical wards were screened by means of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Diagnoses were confirmed with the International Diagnostic Checklists and compared with physicians’ detection rates. C–L intervention included demonstrations of standardized diagnostic procedures in order to change primary-care physicians’ behavior.ResultsPrimary-care-physicians’ detection rates of alcohol-use disorders increased significantly after implementation of the C–L service, whereas no significant differences were observed on the control ward.ConclusionTentative data thus underscore the efficacy of C–L psychiatry for detection and intervention in alcohol-use disorders.