OBJECTIVES: To determine the most common psychiatric diagnoses and the characteristics of women of menopausal age referred from a Health Centre to their Health Area's Mental Health Centre. DESIGN: A crossover observational study. SETTING: The Mental Health Centre (MHC) and Primary Care Team (PCT) at Barajas (Health Area 4, Madrid). PATIENTS: 88 women between 44 and 55, referred from the PCT to the MHC up to 1st June 1997. VARIABLES STUDIED: definitive diagnoses from the MHC (CIE-9), suspected diagnoses by the PCT, age, marital status, education, psychiatric antecedents (family and/or personal) and family problems. CONCLUSIONS: The commonest psychiatric pathologies were depression and anxiety. The patients' profile is: married woman, primary or lower educational level, without paid work and with family problems. The concordance found reflects the need to improve the psychiatric training of PC doctors.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the most common psychiatric diagnoses and the characteristics of women of menopausal age referred from a Health Centre to their Health Area's Mental Health Centre. DESIGN: A crossover observational study. SETTING: The Mental Health Centre (MHC) and Primary Care Team (PCT) at Barajas (Health Area 4, Madrid). PATIENTS: 88 women between 44 and 55, referred from the PCT to the MHC up to 1st June 1997. VARIABLES STUDIED: definitive diagnoses from the MHC (CIE-9), suspected diagnoses by the PCT, age, marital status, education, psychiatric antecedents (family and/or personal) and family problems. CONCLUSIONS: The commonest psychiatric pathologies were depression and anxiety. The patients' profile is: married woman, primary or lower educational level, without paid work and with family problems. The concordance found reflects the need to improve the psychiatric training of PC doctors.