Contact with general practitioners and differences in health status among people aged over 85 years

A survey of the health and social service needs of all people aged 85 years and over was commissioned in 1986 by members of City and Hackney health authority and Hackney social services department. In 1987, 662 people who lived at home were traced from family practitioner committee records and interviewed. Eighty six per cent of respondents had consulted their general practitioner in the 12 months before the interview. Analyses showed that those who had not consulted within the 12 month period reported fewer physical and psychological symptoms, consumed less prescribed medication and reported better emotional well-being than those who had consulted more recently. However, the survey detected a considerable amount of unreported morbidity among both recent consulters and non-recent consulters. This finding questions the suggestion that the problem of under-consultation among elderly people is exaggerated but recommends that in studies of case finding attention should be focused on unreported morbidity rather than infrequent consultation.