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Psychiatric morbidity in an urban general practice
1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
|September 1, 1994
Summary
A study found nearly 30% psychiatric morbidity in an urban general practice. Many patients with unexplained physical symptoms scored high on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), indicating distress.
Area of Science:
- General Practice
- Psychiatric Epidemiology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- General practices encounter patients with unexplained physical symptoms.
- Psychiatric morbidity is often underdiagnosed in primary care settings.
- The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is a widely used screening tool for psychological distress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in an urban general practice.
- To identify patient characteristics associated with high scores on the General Health Questionnaire.
- To explore the relationship between unexplained physical complaints and psychological distress.
Main Methods:
- A survey of 206 patients using the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30).
- Data analysis included calculating high-scorer prevalence and comparing scores across demographic groups.
- A cut-off score of 6/7 was used to define high scorers.
Main Results:
- 34.5% of respondents were high scorers, estimating 29.9% psychiatric morbidity.
- 70% of patients with unexplained general complaints were high scorers.
- Malay patients had significantly higher mean GHQ scores than Chinese patients.
Conclusions:
- A significant level of psychiatric morbidity exists in urban general practices.
- Unexplained physical symptoms are strongly associated with psychological distress.
- Ethnic differences in psychological distress warrant further investigation in primary care.