Studies of symptoms in primary care

Publications on the frequency of defined symptoms in the practice setting, underlying conditions and prognosis have been rare in the past. Also, studi es addressing these questions have suffered from several methodological pro blems. We therefore developed criteria to help investigators improve the qu ality of study design, implementation and publication. Studies evaluating s ymptoms in practice can make an important contribution to a more rational a pproach to diagnostic decision making especially in primary care.