[The 50 most frequent results of consultation with the general practitioner]

Analysis of the fifty most frequent results of consultation with the general practitioner suggests that a clearcut diagnosis is possible in only about 10% of all cases. In about a third of the patients the symptoms are attributed to a more or less clearcut disease entity; such attribution, however, fails to attain the value of a scientifically based diagnosis. In more than 50% of all cases, a careful patient history and clinical examination will yield neither a firm diagnosis nor a more intuitive association with a known disease entity, and the physician is left with a descriptive record of symptoms. In these cases it seems particularly important to exclude all potentially serious or dangerous conditions, to keep an eye on the patient and to stay "watchfully exspectant". Although these problems are not specific to the general practitioner, they are--for obvious reasons--quantitatively more important in a family practice than in other medical specialties.