Generalised anxiety disorder symptoms and utilisation of health care services. A cross-sectional study from the “Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort”

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care
• Main Authors: Tero Kujanpää, Jari Jokelainen, Juha Auvinen, Markku Timonen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2016
• Subjects: Anxiety disorders; Finland; general practice; generalised anxiety disorder; health care services; health care utilisation; psychiatric services; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Northern Finland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3109/02813432.2016.1160631; https://doaj.org/article/70ae692dc7094d5683ca282ef9b405f9

Objective: To analyse the utilization of health care services of people who tested positive for GAD compared to those who tested negative. Setting: A cross-sectional study from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. Subjects: A total of 10,282 members followed from birth in a longitudinal study were asked to participate in a follow-up survey at the age of 46. As part of this survey they filled in questionnaries concerning health care utilization and their illness history as well as the GAD-7 screening tool. Althogether 5,480 cohort members responded to the questionnaries. Main outcome measures: Number of visits in different health care services among people who tested positive for GAD with the GAD-7 screening tool compared to those who tested negative. Results: People who tested positive for GAD had 112% more total health care visits, 74% more total physician visits, 115% more visits to health centres, 133% more health centre physician visits, 160% more visits to secondary care, and 775% more mental health care visits than those who tested negative. Conclusion: People with GAD symptoms utilize health care services more than other people. Key Points Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common but poorly identified mental health problem in primary care. People who tested positive for GAD utilise more health care services than those who tested negative. About 58% of people who tested positive for GAD had visited their primary care physician during the past year. Only 29% of people who tested positive for GAD had used mental health services during the past year.