Consultation pattern of Hong Kong primary care attenders for psychological distress
TP Lam1, TL Lo1,2, DVK Chao1,3, KF Lam4, WW Lam1, KS Sun1
1 Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong
2 Kwai Chung Hospital
3 Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, United Christian Hospital and Tseung Kwan O Hospital
4 Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong
 
 
1. About one quarter of primary care attenders have high risk of psychological distress.
2. Among psychologically distressed patients who seek help from health care professionals, half do so with general practitioners / family doctors.
3. Of patients who have experienced psychological distress, nearly 60% have been asked by their regular doctors about psychological problems.
4. Distressed patients treated by general practitioners / family doctors have a longer average consultation time when presenting with psychological problems.
5. Among distressed patients referred to psychiatrists / clinical psychologists, 91.5% follow the referral instruction.