Mental health concerns are second only to musculoskeletal complaints for patients visiting primary care physicians, finds new study of 350 million primary care visits. Depression, sleep disturbance, stress and anxiety, memory problems and substance abuse led the list.

I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-024-00310-5

From the linked article:

An examination of millions of patient visits to primary care physicians shows that mental health concerns are second only to musculoskeletal complaints in everyday care. One in nine patients was seeking care primarily because of a mental health concern.

“These primary care physicians are the gatekeepers,” said study leader Avshalom Caspi, the Edward M. Arnett Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. “The primary care physician data allows us to actually see people at their first contact with the healthcare system.”

Researchers examined more than 350 million primary care visits for 4.8 million people from January 2006 to December 2019, as recorded by the Norwegian government. Each visit’s principal health concern was coded by the physicians, enabling the researchers to take a deep dive into what these doctors are seeing every day. The study appears Sept. 19 Nature Mental Health.

Depression, sleep disturbance, stress and anxiety, memory problems and substance abuse led the list. But concerns also included ADHD, learning problems, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, sexual issues, psychosis and suicidal thoughts.