Objective: GPs are confronted daily with patients who have mental health problems. In this context, the aim of this study was to single out the prevalence of the most common mental health symptoms in a large primary care population, to characterize them and describe their determinants.
Methods: Data were based upon a cross-sectional study in a primary care population in Switzerland conducted in 2015-2016. 1200 randomly drawn patients participated from a research network of 170 GPs. Questionnaires were handed to the patients by fieldworkers present at GPs’ practices. Stress in daily life, PHQ-4 and sleep disorders were measured.
Results: 7.7% of patients had moderate to severe anxious and depressive symptoms, 30.9% felted stressed at least once a week and 17.2% had severe sleep disorders. Women, young people and people living alone with kid-s were globally more at risk to develop mental health problems. A high number of visits to the GP during the 12 last months was associated with a high PHQ-4 score and severity of sleep disorders. Participants taking psychotropic medication still had high PHQ-4 scores, high level of stress and high severity of sleep disorders.
Conclusion: Even though most of the patients included in our study were followed regularly by a GP, a significant number of mental health problems were found. Concrete tools should be given to GP in order to better take care of patients suffering from mental health problems. Interprofessional collaboration between GP and mental health specialists should be encouraged.