Kinship and friendship networks and women's demand for primary care.

Women's perceptions of illness are examined and the effects of lay consultations and social networks on the use of general practitioner services are explored.A sample of 79 women aged 16-44 from a new estate in London completed six-week health diaries and were subsequently interviewed. Symptoms were recorded in the diaries one day in every three, and the ratio of medical consultations to symptom episodes was 1:18. Nearly three quarters of the symptom episodes that precipitated a medical consultation during the diary period were discussed first with someone who was non-medical. There was an average of 11 lay consultations for every medical consultation. Married women were most likely to consult with their husbands, and single and separated or divorced women with their mothers. The second most popular category of lay consultant, regardless of marital status, was female friends. Type of symptom seemed to have little effect on who was consulted.Large, active kinship networks appeared to predispose women to consult their general practitioners; large, active friendship networks seemed to have an opposite, if less decisive, effect. We speculate that discussions of symptoms with kin may be intense and protracted and lead to kin referrals to general practitioners. On the other hand, discussions with friends may be more casual and result in symptoms being redefined as unimportant and less in need of medical attention.