RESUMEN
Background: Medical and surgical teams consult psychiatrists when abnormal behavior or psychopathological traits are observed in their patients. Aim: To describe the experience of liaison psychiatry teams in public hospitals. Material and methods: Analysis of 128 consultations, involving 110 patients. Eighty eight patients were subjected to the structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders - Patient Edition, the Mini Mental State score and to a search for personality disorders. Results: The most commonly consulted problems were depression in 44 patients, substance abuse in 29 and suicidal behavior in 21. The psychiatric study detected that 8 percent of patients were asymptomatic, 8 percent had stress reactions, 16.5 percent had substance abuse, 14.6 percent had alcohol abuse, 11 percent had a major depression, 10 percent had delirium or dementia, 9 percent had anxiety disorders, 4 percent schizophrenia, 18 percent personality disorders and 19 percent had suicidal behaviors. Conclusions: Psychiatric consultations in medical and surgical services are common and have a wide variety of severity (Rev Méd Chile 2004; 132: 725-32).