Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the psychiatric diagnoses of the patients referred to psychiatric consultation in respect to acute or chronic physical illnesses.

Method: 109 of the 153 psychiatric consultation patients were included in the study in a university psychiatry department for 6 months. Patients admitted to emergency service were not included in the study. The patients were grouped into surgery or internal with respect to acute or chronic condition of their physical illnesses' course. Psychiatric diagnoses according to DSM IV were evaluated by comparing with regard to acute and cronic physical illnesses.

Results: 52.3 % of patients were woman, and 47.7 % were man. Mean age of the patients was 48.4±17 .9 (range 17-93 ), and 84.4 % of the patients' educational level was lower than 8 years. Among the consultation patients chronic diseases (43.1 % chronic internal, 24.8 % chronic surgery) were significantly more than acute ones (p<0.001). The most diagnoses were anxiety disorders (29.4 %), depressive disorders (23.9 %), and delirium (11.0 %). Depressive disorders were mostly diagnosed in chronic physical conditions, however there was no difference in frequency between depressive disorders and anxiety disorders in chronic or acute physical illnesses (p=0.217).

Conclusion: It should be emphasized that the possibility of the increase of psychiatric comorbidity in the patients with chronic physical illnesses, and tried out to pevent psychiatric comorbidity especialy in chronic physical conditions.