Estimated Prevalence of RDC Mental Disorder in Primary Medical Care

Abstract

The prevalence of mental disorder in primary -care practice has been estimated to be between 15% and 50% (Anderson, Francis, Lion, & Daughety, 1977; Finn & Huston, 1966; Gardner, 1970; Goldberg, Kay, & Thompson, 1976; Locke & Gardner, 1969; Patrick, Eagle, & Coleman, 1978; Shepherd, Cooper, Brown, & К alt on, 1966). These estimates have been based on general practitioners T diagnoses (Finn & Huston, 1966; Goldberg, Kay, & Thompson, 1976; Locke & Gardner, 1969) or on levels of self -reported mental or emotional symptoms (Anderson et al., 1977; Goldberg, Kay, & Thompson, 1976; Shepherd et al., 1966). Studies of patients receiving services from specialized medical settings such as hospital-based general medical clinics and emergency rooms have reported significantly higher rates of mental disorder among their patients than those reported for office-based practices (Nigro, 1970: Rosen, Locke, Goldberg, & Babigian, 1972). Anderson and co-workers (1977)