[Description of the evolution of a Balint group during 1992: apropos of 16 reported cases]

To describe the evolution of the Balint group (BG) of the Primary Care team at Galdakao (Vizcaya) during 1992 through the analysis of 16 cases.

A retrospective, descriptive study.

A psychoanalyst, three paediatricians, three Family and Community medicine third-year residents, a psychologist and eight family doctors. The total number of members of the BG was 16.

The evaluative notes of the sessions held were analysed through study of the variables: number of sessions, control of timetable, attendance, age, gender, patient's personal and family case histories, the apparent cause of presentation, its objective and the group's summarised contributions. Results are: 1) Filling-in of 16 evaluative notes out of a total of 24 cases presented (66.7%). 2) The holding of 100% of the planned sessions. 3) The presence of psychopathological personal and/or family histories in 100% of the new cases. 4) Scant number of elderly people or adolescents presented (one and zero respectively). 5) The character of the BG was participatory, interpretative and practical. 6) The type of conflicts presented were summarised in 5 areas: maternity, couple and family, patients and complex situations, mental illness and conflicts of the doctor and/or institution.

1) The system of data-gathering employed needs changes (16 notes out of 24), as it limits the scope of the results. 2) The low number of elderly people and adolescents presented suggests difficulties in these groups for the doctor. 3) Psychiatric cases suppose a relative weight in this field as generators of conflict, with those coming from a variety of situations of normal clinical practice being more numerous. 4) The BG affects the doctor's personality, making him/her both more sensitive and more capable of reflecting on conflictual situations in everyday clinical practice.