201. Psychological distress as a predictor of frequent attendance in family practice: a cohort study
- Author
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Frede Olesen, Per Fink, Povl Munk-Jørgensen, and Peter Vedsted
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Denmark ,Logistic regression ,Health Services Misuse ,Severity of Illness Index ,Cohort Studies ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Risk Factors ,Health care ,Severity of illness ,medicine ,Odds Ratio ,Humans ,Prospective Studies ,Psychiatry ,Prospective cohort study ,Applied Psychology ,Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ,business.industry ,Primary care physician ,Odds ratio ,Middle Aged ,Patient Acceptance of Health Care ,Mental health ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Logistic Models ,Female ,business ,Family Practice ,Stress, Psychological ,Cohort study ,Follow-Up Studies - Abstract
In cross-sectional studies, psychological distress has been associated with frequent health care utilization. However, there is a need for prospective studies to confirm these findings. This cohort study evaluated whether psychological distress predicted frequent attendance in family practice. In 1990, 185 consecutive adults who consulted their primary care physician (PCP) about an illness were rated on two psychometric scales (Hopkins Symptom Check List [SCL-8] and Whiteley-7), and their annual number of face-to-face contacts with a family practice was followed until 1996. Frequent attenders (FAs) were defined as the top 10%. A logistic regression analysis showed a significantly increased risk of becoming an FA with an increase of 1 point (odds ratio [OR] 1.17 [1.03–1.33]) on SCL and 1.28 (1.06–1.53) on Whiteley). An association was found between score and number of years as an FA (OR 1.16 [0.99–1.36] for SCL and OR 1.31 [1.05–1.65] for Whiteley). Psychological distress involved an increased risk of future frequent attendance among adult patients consulting family practice in the daytime about an illness.
- Published
- 2001