Introduction: The use of placebo has spread in clinical practice despite being controversial. In Mexico, the practice of family medicine is predominantly institutional and works with an essential medications list.
Objective: To determine the frequency and family doctor attitude regarding the use of placebos in clinical practice.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of medically unexplained physical symptoms and the characteristics and use of health services in a group of patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms and a group of patients with other illnesses.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective and multicenter study. We included 1,043 patients over 18 years of age from 30 primary care units of a government health institution, in 11 states of Mexico, attended by 39 family physicians.