Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Sep 8;10(9):1729.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10091729.

Collaboration between Psychiatrists and Other Allied Medical Specialists for the Treatment of Delusional Disorders

Alexandre González-Rodríguez  1   2 , José Antonio Monreal  1   2   3 , Mentxu Natividad  1 , Mary V Seeman  4
Affiliations
Review

Collaboration between Psychiatrists and Other Allied Medical Specialists for the Treatment of Delusional Disorders

Alexandre González-Rodríguez et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: There is increasing evidence that individuals with psychosis are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and several other medical comorbidities. In delusional disorder (DD), this is particularly so because of the relatively late onset age.

Aims: The aim of this narrative review is to synthesize the literature on the necessity for medical collaboration between psychiatrists and other specialists.

Methods: A non-systematic narrative review was carried out of papers addressing referrals and cooperation among specialists in the care of DD patients.

Results: Psychiatrists, the primary care providers for DD patients, depend on neurology to assess cognitive defects and rule out organic sources of delusions. Neurologists rely on psychiatry to help with patient adherence to treatment and the management of psychotropic drug side effects. Psychiatrists require ophthalmology/otolaryngology to treat sensory deficits that often precede delusions; reciprocally, psychiatric consults can help in instances of functional sensory impairment. Close collaboration with dermatologists is essential for treating delusional parasitosis and dysmorphophobia to ensure timely referrals to psychiatry.

Conclusions: This review offers many other examples from the literature of the extent of overlap among medical specialties in the evaluation and effective treatment of DD. Optimal patient care requires close collaboration among specialties.

Keywords: collaboration; delusional disorder; paranoia; psychosis; specialties.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

A.G.-R. has received honoraria or travel funds for congresses from Janssen, Lundbeck-Otsuka, and Angelini; J.A.M. has received consultancy and/or lecture honoraria from Sanofi, Pfizer, Servier, Janssen, and Lundbeck-Otsuka.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the included studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5. 5th ed. American Psychiatric Publishing; Arlinghton, VA, USA: Washington, DC, USA: 2013.
    1. Maina G., Albert U., Badà A., Bogetto F. Occurrence and clinical correlates of psychiatric co-morbidity in delusional disorder. Eur. Psychiatry. 2001;16:222–228. doi: 10.1016/S0924-9338(01)00568-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. de Portugal E., Martínez C., González N., del Amo V., Haro J.M., Cervilla J.A. Clinical and cognitive correlates of psychiatric comorbidity in delusional disorder outpatients. Aust. N. Z. J. Psychiatry. 2011;45:416–425. doi: 10.3109/00048674.2010.551279. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stubbs B., Koyanagi A., Veronese N., Vancampfort D., Solmi M., Gaughran F., Carvalho A.F., Lally J., Mitchell A.J., Mugisha J., et al. Physical multimorbidity and psychosis: Comprehensive cross sectional analysis including 242,952 people across 48 low- and middle-income countries. BMC Med. 2016;14:189. doi: 10.1186/s12916-016-0734-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Singh R., Bansal Y., Medhi B., Kuhad A. Antipsychotics-induced metabolic alterations: Recounting the mechanistic insights, therapeutic targets and pharmacological alternatives. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2019;844:231–240. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2018.12.003. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources