Uncommon Medical Diagnostic Profiles in Psychiatric Settings Across South-south Nigeria

AbstractMedical disorders and emergencies may cause diagnostic puzzles, sometimes leading to negative patient outcomes, among mentally ill patients. The aim was to determine the uncommon medical diagnosis and their profiles among psychiatric settings in South-South, Nigeria: The study was done in centers across three states in a cross-sectional descriptive study that examined diagnostic profiles of a sample of 134 psychiatric patients that received medical care over one year (July 2021-July 2022) using questionnaires generated by the clinical team and ICD-10 medical diagnoses obtained from specialist reviews performed by consultant physicians from the medical team. Data analysis: was done using SPSS version 27. Chi-squared tests were conducted and a probability value of p < 0.05 was considered significant. The results showed that there was a preponderance of females with a frequency of 66.4% as compared to 33.6% for males. The most predominant age range was 10–19 years with 57 (42.5%) patients and 78.6% below 30 years. Most of the patients (49.25%) were married, 41.79% were single and 8.95% of participants were either separated or divorced. There was a statistically significant relationship between marital status, age, education, and medical diagnosis (X2 = 5.0, p = 0.02, X2=11.2, p = 0.00, X2 = 5.33, p = 0.02, respectively). Neurological medical conditions were the most predominant medical conditions found in the psychiatric settings used for the assessment with a value of 61.17%. while surgical co-morbidities were the least presenting diagnosis in psychiatric settings, with a value of 2.98%. Clinicians including the consultation-liaison psychiatrist, are therefore advised to have a high index of suspicion, about vulnerabilities within the diagnostic process of varied diseases, encountered in general medical or neuropsychiatric settings, to reduce diagnostic errors, mitigate morbidity and ultimately improve the outcome of the organic conditions.