Psychosocial problems: what do patients want? What do physicians want to provide?

This study addressed the question of whether caregivers and patients in the same medical centers agree in their expectations of the family doctor regarding psychosocial problems, and whether demographic, socioeconomic, and family characteristics affect patient desires. A total of 375 family practice patients were asked to indicate what kind of involvement they would like from their family doctor for each of 30 problems, mostly psychosocial. Sixty-three physicians in the same settings completed a similar questionnaire indicating how involved they were in the same 30 problems. In general, physicians saw themselves as much more involved than patients wanted them to be. Patients expected referral much more frequently than physicians considered it, and for problems ranging from headaches to anxiety and life-cycle issues. Over 50% of the physicians expected to give help for relationship problems whereas 46% of the patients did not want the physician to even know that the problem existed. Demographic comparisons did not yield particularly noteworthy findings. The implications of these results are discussed.