Symptomatic and Non-symptomatic Reasons for Encounter in General Practice

Abstract

A total of 10278 consecutive doctor-patient contacts in general practice were classified as either caused by a symptom or complaint (symptomatic) or caused by other reasons (non-symptomatic) according to the Reason for Encounter Classification system (RFEC). Of all consultations and of all house-calls 61.5% and 91.7% respectively were classified as “symptomatic”. Significant differences according to sex and type of problem were found between “symptomatic” and “non-symptomatic” consultations. Patients seeking advice for non-symptomatic reasons have other expectations and represent other challenges to the doctor than patients with symptoms and complaints. Knowledge of the distribution of “symptomatic” and “non-symptomatic” consultations is important for the understanding of the workload and utilization of general practice.

Key Words:

• general practice
• symptom
• reason for encounter