Physician office visits of adults for anxiety disorders in the United States, 1985-1998.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the number of physician office visits by adults in which an anxiety disorder diagnosis was recorded and rates of treatment during these visits. DESIGN: We used data from the 1985, 1993, 1994, 1997, and 1998 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, which is a nationally representative series of surveys of office-based practice employing clustered sampling. SETTING: Office-based physician practices in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: A systematically sampled group of office-based physicians. RESULTS: The number of office visits with a recorded anxiety disorder diagnosis increased from 9.5 million in 1985 to 11.2 million per year in 1993-1994 and 12.3 million per year in 1997-1998, representing 1.9%, 1.6%, and 1.5% of all office visits in 1985, 1993-1994, and 1997-1998, respectively. The majority of recorded anxiety disorder diagnoses were not for specific disorders, with 70% of anxiety disorder visits to primary care physicians coded as "anxiety state, unspecified." Visits to primary care physicians accounted for 48% of all anxiety disorder visits in 1985 and 1997-1998. Treatment for anxiety was offered in over 95% of visits to psychiatrists but in only 60% of visits to primary care physicians. Primary care physicians were less likely to offer treatment for anxiety when specific anxiety disorders were diagnosed than when "anxiety state, unspecified" was diagnosed (54% vs 62% in 1997-1998). Prescriptions for medications to treat anxiety disorders increased between 1985 and 1997-1998 while use of psychotherapy decreased over the same time period in visits to both primary care physicians and psychiatrists. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is a large number of office visits with a recorded anxiety disorder diagnosis, under-recognition and under-treatment appear to be a continuing problem, especially in the primary care sector. Medication is being substituted for psychotherapy in visits to both psychiatrists and primary care physicians over time.
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- United States
- Sampling Studies
- Psychotherapy
- Primary Health Care
- Physician-Patient Relations
- Office Visits
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Humans
- General & Internal Medicine
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- United States
- Sampling Studies
- Psychotherapy
- Primary Health Care
- Physician-Patient Relations
- Office Visits
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Humans
- General & Internal Medicine