Patients with mental illness in primary health care.: A long-term follow-up of health care utilization and contact patterns with psychiatric care

Abstract

Objective-Long-term follow-up of the use of health care services in patients with a mental illness identified in primary care. A 10-year follow-up of all health care utilization in five 1-year cohorts of patients with a mental illness identified in primary health care services of a Swedish health care district.

Patients-1167 (408 males, 759 females) with mental illness.

Results-A total of 27.1 % of the patients were in contact with psychiatric services during follow-up. The strongest associations with contact with psychiatric services concerned age (younger) and diagnosis (dependence, affective psychosis). Patients with a diagnosis of psychosis had the highest utilization of psychiatric services. Patients in contact with psychiatric care had a higher consumption of primary health care and of somatic outpatient and inpatient care. A subgroup identified as high consumers consumed 44% of the total health care resources used by the cohort.

Conclusion-The use of health care services was very skewed. Patients in contact with psychiatric services were more frequent users of other medical services.

Key Words:

• primary care
• mental illness
• follow-up
• utilization of health care