Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:1145-1148
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
The relationship of presenting complaints to the use of psychiatric services in a low-income group
JM de Figueiredo and H Boerstler
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.
The presenting complaints of 503 subjects who contacted a mental health
clinic serving an inner-city, low-income group were classified into mental
state, physical functioning, social relations, and social performance. The
authors examined the relationship between type of presenting complaint and
race ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, DSM-III diagnosis, source of
referral, and previous use of psychiatric services. Diagnostic group,
source of referral, previous use of services, and type of presenting
complaint were the four best predictors of number of outpatient visits. The
increment in prediction produced by type of presenting complaint, however,
was relatively modest.
