Addictive disorders are a significant complaint for referral to consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry services, as the C-L psychiatrist is specialized in consulting patients with general health conditions, as well as with psychosomatic disorders. Among addictive disorders, gambling disorder is likely to become an emerging issue in C-L psychiatry. The present systematic review aimed to examine the correlation between gambling disorder and general health, particularly focusing on health self-perception.
A systematic review of English-language papers was performed. The articles included in the present study reported general health or health self-perception data, as well as a measure of problem gambling severity.
Nine studies were included in the present review. The main result we yielded is that disordered gamblers appear to show a somewhat worse somatic health self- perception than the non-gambling population and that they were more likely to utilize medical services. All studies concerning the relation between gambling and general health used self-report measures and were cross-sectional in their design.
The literature seems to show a certain correlation between gambling and a worse self-perception of general health, although the effect size was limited. We hypothesize that at least a part of that patients presenting disordered gambling might be relatively often referred to C-L psychiatry due to their comorbidities. The clinical implications of the present work would point out that the consultation-liaison psychiatrist might play a pivotal role in detection and treatment of gambling disorder.