Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34193478›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Clinician perceptions of common mental disorders before and after implementation of a consultation-liaison psychiatry service: a longitudinal qualitative study in government-operated primary care settings in Penang, Malaysia.

Vincent Russell, Ching Ee Loo, Aisling Walsh, Arokiamary Bharathy, Umadevi Vasudevan, Irene Looi, Susan M Smith

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Implementation research in Primary Care (Part 1): What is implementation research?Malaysian family physician : the official journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia · 2026
    Review
  3. Key Performance Indicators Applied in Medicine.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Vincent RussellPsychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland vincentrussell@rcsi.ie.ORCID 0000-0003-4664-7371
Ching Ee LooCentre for Clinical Epidemiology, Institute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Shah Alam, Malaysia.ORCID 0000-0003-4727-2890
Aisling WalshEpidemiology and Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0002-5312-5101
Arokiamary BharathyPsychiatry, RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus, Georgetown, Malaysia.
Umadevi VasudevanPsychiatry, RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus, Georgetown, Malaysia.
Irene LooiDepartment of Medicine and Clinical Research Centre, Hospital Seberang Jaya, Seberang Jaya, Malaysia.ORCID 0000-0001-6217-5410
Susan M SmithGeneral Practice, RCSI, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0001-6027-2727
RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus · MYRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland · IEHospital Seberang Jaya · MY

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo explore primary care clinician perceptions of barriers and facilitators in delivering care for common mental disorders (CMD) before and after implementation of a consultation-liaison psychiatry service (Psychiatry in Primary Care (PIPC)) in government-operated primary care clinics and to explore the clinicians' experience of the PIPC service itself.

designThis longitudinal qualitative study was informed by the Normalisation Process Model and involved audiotaped semi-structured individual interviews with front-line clinicians before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the PIPC intervention. The Framework Method was used in the thematic analysis of pre/post interview transcripts.

settingTwo government-operated primary care clinics in Penang, Malaysia.

participants17 primary care medical, nursing and allied health staff recruited purposely to achieve a range of disciplines and a balanced representation from both clinics.

interventionPsychiatrists, accompanied by medical students in small numbers, provided one half-day consultation visit per week, to front-line clinicians in each clinic over an 8-month period. The service involved psychiatric assessment of patients with suspected CMDs, with face-to-face discussion with the referring clinician before and after the patient assessment.

resultsAt Time 1 interviewees tended to equate CMDs with stress and embraced a holistic model of care while also reporting considerable autonomy in mental healthcare and positively appraising their current practices. At Time 2, post-intervention, participants demonstrated a shift towards greater understanding of CMDs as treatable conditions. They reported time pressures and the demands of key performance indicators in other areas as barriers to participation in PIPC. Yet they showed increased awareness of current service deficits and of their potential in delivering improved mental healthcare.

conclusionsDespite resource-related and structural barriers to implementation of national mental health policy in Malaysian primary care settings, our findings suggest that front-line clinicians are receptive to future interventions designed to improve the mental healthcare capacity.

Indexed as

Mental DisordersPsychiatryGovernmentHumansMalaysiaPerceptionPrimary Health CareQualitative ResearchReferral and Consultationmental healthprimary carepsychiatrypublic healthqualitative researchquality in health care

Identifiers

PMID34193478
PMCPMC8246375
OpenAlexW3175499815

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.