Jd. Meyer et Cm. Fink, PSYCHOLOGISTS SENSITIVITY TO MEDICAL FACTORS EXAMINED DURING STANDARDPSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATIONS - A PRELIMINARY DESCRIPTION, Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings, 2(4), 1995, pp. 373-386
Medical disorders among psychiatric patients have frequently been over
looked by all mental health disciplines. These medical conditions have
, at times, been later identified as influencing some of the presentin
g psychological symptoms. Although the relationship between medical fa
ctors and psychological symptoms has been recognized and discussed in
the literature for several decades, improvement has not been well docu
mented regarding the frequency of recognizing medical factors with psy
chiatric patients. Little research was found that reviewed the effecti
veness of psychologists in recognizing related medical concerns. This
study examined the frequency with which a random sampling of psycholog
ists reviewed specific medical factors with their patients during the
initial psychological evaluation. The results reveal that many psychol
ogists are sensitive to the possible influence of medical factors, whi
ch is especially important given the increased focus of psychologists
as primary care providers and the increasing collaborative practice ef
forts between medicine and psychology. A summary and discussion of the
se descriptive results are presented and recommendations are offered.