Mental health care as delivered by Dutch general practitioners between 2004 and 2008.

Objective: In the field of mental health care, a major role for general practice is advocated. However, not much is known about the treatment and referral of mental health problems in general practice. This study aims at the volume and nature of treatment of mental health problems in general practice; the degree to which treatment varies according to patients' gender, age, and social economic status; and trends in treatment and referral between 2004 and 2008.

Patients with a psychiatric disorder in general practice: determinants of general practitioners' psychological diagnosis.

Background: Although psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent in the community, many patients with a psychiatric morbidity remain unidentified as such in primary care.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze which clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of patients with psychiatric morbidity are related to general practitioners' (GPs) diagnosis of mental illness.

Methods: A 1-year naturalistic survey of primary care contacts of patients with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnosis of affective disorder, anxiety disorder or alcohol abuse was carried out.