Objective: To study the quantitative relationship that exists between mental problems and use of the general medical practitioner, and the association between such problems, increased use of the medical services, and morbidity and socio-demographic variables.
Design: Observational cross-section study. SITE. A primary care team's general medical consultations.
Patients: Patients aged over 15, attending the consultations. A sample of 310 patients was selected using systematic sampling.
Interventions: The Mental Health GHQ, 28 items questionnaire was administered to the patients, to detect the existence of significant mental health disorders.
Measurement and main results: Amongst older patients there is a greater incidence of mental illness, statistically significant at p less than 0.01. Also significant at p < 0.01 were the greater number of visits to the doctor amongst patients previously diagnosed as having mental disorders, amongst the elderly, those patients included in health programmes and those who showed greater take-up of supplementary explorations and interim consultations.
Conclusions: The results demonstrate an association between mental illness and greater number of visits to the general practitioner, leading to the hypothesis that a considerable number of such visits could be attributed to mental illness. There is no doubt that it is important to integrate the mental health services into primary care practice.