[Psychiatric consultant care in a general hospital in association with inpatient crisis intervention].

This study examined the psychiatric care given at a general hospital associated with a clinical crisis-intervention ward in Munich. The correlations between frequency of suicide attempts, psychiatric crisis and the transfer of patients (treated by attending physicians) to a crisis-intervention ward of particular interest. Of the total 6,004 patients in the general hospital, 227 (130 female, 97 male) were psychogenetic reactions (36.6%) or alcohol-, medicine-, and drug-dependent cases (26.8%). The average patient age in acute crisis was significantly lower than that of other patients. Suicide syndrome was found in 91 cases; 23 patients were transferred to the crisis-intervention ward within 24 h and 7 after 24 h. There were significantly more women than men. The configuration-frequency analysis indicated three significant types: (1) "crisis-patients" (N = 18) with suicide syndrome, psychiatric crisis patients who were moved to the crisis-intervention ward within 24 h; (2) typical "non-crisis patients" (N = 111) without positive indication of these three variables; and (3) a group of 48 patients who, in spite of an acute crisis and suicide syndrome, were not transferred to the crisis-intervention ward. In the follow-up study 1 year later, another group of patients (N = 23), which had refused admission to the crisis-intervention ward, confirmed the high-risk expectation when compared with the patients who were admitted.