Analysis of dermatologic consultations in neuropsychiatrie inpatients

Background: Many patients seeking treatment for skin disorders have an underlying psychiatric problem that either causes or exacerbates a skin condition; thus, the demand for dermatologists' expert opinions on such cases is increasing. Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze and quantify the pattern of dermatologie consultations referred by the department of neuropsychiatry in a tertiary hospital. Methods: We retrospectively studied data from 337 inpatients referred by the department of neuropsychiatry for dermatologie consultation during an 8.5-year period in a tertiary hospital. Results: The percentage of department of neuropsychiatry patients who were referred to the department of 'dermatology for consultation was 15.3%. The most prevalent age group for referrals was 30∼39 years (26.4%), and the male-to-female ratio was 1 : 1.6. Bipolar disorder was the most common underlying neuropsychiatrie problem (31.1%), and eczema (36.5%) was the most common dermatoses, followed by infectious disease (27.6%). The main 'reasons for dermatologie consultations were dermatologie disease (71.5%) and treatment-related dermatoses (10.1%). .Thirty-five cases were discordant as to the reason for consultation between psychiatrists and dermatologists. Neuropsychiatrie medication-related adverse reactions were reported in 9.8% of referred patients. Conclusion: This study revealed the distribution of skin disorders in patients referred by department of f neuropsychiatry for dermatologie consultation. We believe its findings could be helpful as educational material to encourage cooperation between the specialties of dermatology and neuropsychiatry.