FREQUENT ATTENDER PROFILES - DIFFERENT CLINICAL SUBGROUPS AMONG FREQUENT ATTENDER PATIENTS IN PRIMARY-CARE

Psychiatric and physical morbidity among frequently attending patients in primary care is high. However, very few efforts have been made to sort out the complex patterns of problems these patients have. We deve loped a clinical grouping of these patients. Our sample consisted of 6 7 frequent attenders, The measures included physical and psychiatric i llnesses, presenting symptoms, sociodemographic data, psychosocial sit uation, level of distress, global functioning, experienced life satisf action, illness attribution, and current psychiatric treatment. We ide ntified five groups with different profiles: (1) patients with entirel y physical illnesses; (2) patients with clear psychiatric illnesses; ( 3) crisis patients; (4) chronically somatizing patients; and (5) patie nts with multiple problems. The grouping was based on multidimensional operational criteria. The majority in all groups attended for solely physical illnesses or symptoms suggesting different forms of somatizat ion. Only a few patients were undergoing any psychiatric treatment. Di fferences between groups were found regarding sociodemographic factors , physical illnesses, global functioning, and satisfaction. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.