[Outpatient diagnosis and treatment of patients with anxiety disorder]

The factors found in the approach taken towards the disturbances caused by anxiety on the part of the doctors working outside the hospital environment are analyzed. After studying a sample of 45 patients seen consecutively in the outpatient clinica of a general hospital and evaluating their clinical, evolutive, social-demographical characteristics and the type of medical care received previously, we found an important tendency towards diagnostic error which does not seem to be related to the degree of specialization by the medical practitioner who treated the patient. A profile of a patient having a higher risk of receiving and incorrect diagnosis is elaborated.