General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 26, Issue 4 , Pages 282-288, July 2004

Identification of common mental disorders by general medical doctors in Taiwan

  • Shen-Ing Liu, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Mackay Memorial Hospital, No. 92, Section 2, Chungshan North Road, 10449, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Mackay Medicine, Nursing, and Management College, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +886-2-2809-4661; fax: +886-2-809-5092
    • ,
  • Anthony Mann, M.D., M.R.C.Psych.

      Affiliations

    • Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
    • ,
  • Andrew Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., M.R.C.Psych.

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Jin-Jin Tjung, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Family Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Lee-Ching Hwang, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Family Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Received 21 May 2003; accepted 3 March 2004.

Abstract 

The aims of the study were to examine the detection rate of common mental disorders (CMD) by general medical doctors and which patient-related factors associated with increased chances of detection in Taiwan. A two-phase case-identification using the Chinese Health Questionnaire and the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) was carried out among a sample of consecutive new attenders (n=990) in community and hospital-based clinics. Physicians completed a checklist of the problems that they identified during each consultation. General medical doctors missed more than 85% of the CIS-R cases of defined mental disorder. Physicians performed better identification of CMD among attenders with a higher socioeconomic status, without physical illness, having psychological presentation or attribution, suffering from more serious common mental disorders, or having a longer duration of illness. The very low identification rate of CMD has strongly implied the need to improve postgraduate training in psychiatry for general medical doctors in Taiwan. Simply adding one or two questions about mood and attributions of presenting symptoms might help physicians to identify CMD.

Keywords:  Common mental disorders, Detection, General health care

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PII: S0163-8343(04)00040-4

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2004.03.004

General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 26, Issue 4 , Pages 282-288, July 2004

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