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ADHD is a well established condition in childhood, but much less attention has been given to this diagnosis among adults. It is estimated that 2-4% of the adult population has this condition. Adults with ADHD present symptoms that differ somewhat from those presenting in childhood and they are typically characterized by problems with planning of work and daily life activities as well as social persistence. The Adult ADHD Self-report Scale (ASRS) can be used in general practice as an introduction to the diagnostic process of ADHD in a psychiatry setting and to evaluate the effect of treatment. ASRS is now available in Danish and is recommended as a screener for adult ADHD.

The narrow ICD-10 and DSM-IV definition of hypochondriasis makes it a rarely used diagnosis. Based on a latent class analysis of the symptoms exhibited by 701 patients (ages 18-65) in general practice, a new and more valid hypochondriasis diagnosis was defined in this study. The main symptom is "obsessive rumination about illnesses", and the patient must also have at least one of five other symptoms. The prevalence was 9.5 for both genders. There was a good agreement between the diagnoses made during the psychiatric interview and the physicians' assessments.

The clinical behaviour of General Practitioners (GPs) can best be influenced by identifying their incitements and barriers in the first place. The purpose of this paper was to describe a model for the outreach visits, in which the purpose was to facilitate and evaluate the desired changes in the clinical behaviour of the GPs. We demonstrate the usefulness and workability of the model as a tool to be used in future implementations.A total of 41 GPs in the Counties of Aarhus and Vejle participated in the spring of 2000 in an advanced educational programme about how to diagnose and treat patients with functional disorders. All participating GPs received an invitation for a six-month follow-up visit. The purpose of the follow-up visit was to facilitate and evaluate their educational benefits and experience in using psychiatric rating scales. The strategy of the visit was to structure the dialogue with reference to identifying incitements and barriers and to emphasize their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in connection with the change of their clinical behaviour.Thirty-eight (93%) of the GPs participated in the follow-up outreach visits. The chosen strategy proved to be useful in primary care settings. We identified several areas in which the motivation of the GPs and their possibilities to implement the desired behavioural changes could be strengthened.The results suggest that the incitements and barriers of the GPs to change their clinical behaviour can be identified using the strategy described. We suggest that the strategy should form part of the development and evaluation of outreach visits in Denmark.