Distress Syndromes, Illness Behavior, Access to Care and Medical Utilization in a Defined Population

Abstract

This article examines the use of general medical services in a representative sample from a defined geographic area and in a sample of persons seeking psychiatric care from the same area. Psychiatric patients made 100 per cent more general medical care visits in the retrospective period and 83 per cent more in the prospective period than persons who did not seek mental health care. The analysis focuses on the determinants in general medical care use between those who sought mental health care and those who did not. The first hypothesis is that physical symptoms and dysfunction concomitant with psychologic disorder explain the difference. The second argues that the association is a product of help-seeking orientations and illness behavior. The third focuses on variations due to differences in access. The first two types of factors are the most important. Using sex, physical symptoms and illness behavior measures, we explain 50 per cent of the differences in retrospective utilization and 40 per cent of the differences in prospective data.