Note: this is a past research project that is now complete.

Aim

To study how young people's understanding of psychological symptoms can influence the ability of general practitioners (GPs) to identify emotional distress in these patients.

Description

Most young people visit a GP at least once a year. Thus GPs are in an ideal position to address youth health problems and mental health disorders in particular, a major burden of disease in this age group. Yet often youth emotional distress remains unrecognised in the GP consultation. To inform new interventions to improve identification of youth psychological distress in primary care we need a better understanding of how patient factors influence the encounter. Therefore we have designed this study of young people's perspective on their symptoms when consulting doctors in general practice. Its major aim is to analyse how young people's understanding of psychological symptoms can influence the ability of general practitioners (GPs) to identify emotional distress.

This cross-sectional study will take place in a random sample of 24 general practices. We will use brief questionnaires to interview 480 young people aged 16 to 24 as they wait for their consultation. These questionnaires explore young people's understanding of the cause and the course of their symptoms, level of emotional distress, health related quality of life, information on pathways to care and satisfaction with the consultation. The treating GP will also be given a short questionnaire on the content of the consultation.

Data collection began in July 2004.

Publications

Haller, D. M., Sanci, L. A., Sawyer, S. M., & Patton, G. C. (2009). The identification of young people's emotional distress: a study in primary care. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 59(560), e61–e70. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp09X419510

Haller, D. M., Sanci, L. A., Patton, G. C., & Sawyer, S. M. (2007). Toward youth friendly services: a survey of young people in primary care. Journal of general internal medicine, 22(6), 775–781. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0177-5

Haller, D. M., Sanci, L. A., Sawyer, S. M., & Patton, G. (2008). Do young people's illness beliefs affect healthcare? A systematic review. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 42(5), 436–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.09.013

Haller, D. M., Sanci, L. A., Patton, G. C., & Sawyer, S. M. (2005). Practical evidence in favour of mature-minor consent in primary care research. The Medical journal of Australia, 183(8), 439. https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb07114.x

Contact

Dagmar Haller-Hester
dagmar.haller@mcri.edu.au