Depression, anxiety, and somatization are the most frequently observed mental disorders
in primary health care. Our main objective was to draw on the often neglected general
practitioners' (GPs) perspective to investigate what characterizes these three common
mental diagnoses with regard to creating more suitable categories in the DSM-V and
ICD-11.
We collected independent data from 1751 primary care patients (participation rate=77%)
and their 32 treating GPs in Germany. Patients filled out validated patient self-report
measures for depression (PHQ-9), somatic symptom severity (PHQ-15), and illness anxiety
(Whiteley-7), and questions regarding coping and attribution of illness. GPs' clinical
diagnoses and associated features were assessed.
Patients diagnosed by their GPs with depression, anxiety, and/or somatoform disorders
were significantly older, less educated, and more often female than the reference
group not diagnosed with a mental disorder. They had visited the GP more often, had
a longer duration of symptoms, and were more often under social or financial stress.
Among the mental disorders diagnosed by the GPs, depression (OR=4.4; 95% CI=2.6 to
7.5) and comorbidity of somatoform, depressive, and anxiety disorders (OR=9.5; 95%
CI=4.6 to 19.4) were associated with the largest degrees of impairment compared to
the reference group. Patients diagnosed as having a somatoform/functional disorder
only had mildly elevated impairment on all dimensions (OR=2.0; 95% CI=1.4 to 2.7).
Similar results were found for the physicians' attribution of psychosocial factors
for cause and maintenance of the disease, difficult patient-doctor relationship, and
self-assessed mental disorder.
In order to make the DSM-V and ICD-11 more suitable for primary care, we propose providing
appropriate diagnostic categories for (1) the many mild forms of mental syndromes
typically seen in primary care; and (2) the severe forms of comorbidity between somatoform,
depressive, and/or anxiety disorder, e.g., with a dimensional approach.