Dokumentation komorbider psychischer Störungen in der medizinischen Rehabilitation: Eine Analyse ärztlicher Entlassungsberichte

Abstract

Patients with chronic somatic -diseases often suffer from psychological distress and mental disorders, which remain unrecognized in somatic rehabilitation. The present -study aimed to investigate whether the implementation of a stepwise psychodiagnostic procedure improves the documentation of psychological distress and mental disorders as well as of the -related inpatient treatments and aftercare recommendations. Implementation of a stepwise psychodiagnostic procedure in 5 orthopaedic, cardiologic and oncologic inpatient rehabilitation clinics. The 4 steps comprised (1) screening, (2) in-depth psychodiagnostic assessment, (3) diagnosis and treatment, (4) documentation. Implementation efficacy in terms of a better documentation was evaluated by comparing the discharge reports of every fifth screening-positive and screening-negative patient (n=146) with historical discharge reports of the last 3 months preceding baseline assessment (n=161). Mental disorders (26,0% vs. 21,7%), general psychological treatment (75,3% vs. 66,5%), specific psychological treatment (32,9% vs. 31,7%), as well as psychologically relevant aftercare recommendations (41,1% vs. 34,8%) were more frequently documented in the current post-implementation discharge reports compared to the historical discharge reports. A significant difference was found only for the documentation of general psychological treatment. The results suggest that the implementation of a stepwise psychodiagnostic procedure improves the documentation of psychological distress and mental disorders as well as related inpatient treatments and aftercare recommendations. Continuous staff training and quality assurance relative to the discharge reports may contribute to further enhancing the documentation of psychological distress and mental disorders.