Scandinavian journal of primary health care
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Mar 1993
Comparative StudyFrequent attenders in general practice: a study from Slovenia.
To compare frequent with infrequent attenders at GPs' surgeries in a rural area in Slovenia with respect to morbidity, type of contact with the GP, referral pattern and the prescriptions given, a random sample of 623 records from a population-based register was analysed retrospectively. The frequent attenders had a higher proportion of contacts for malignant disease, mental disorder, and gastrointestinal disease. ⋯ We conclude that there are differences in morbidity between the two groups. The high referring pattern and the high proportion of "superficial contacts" of the frequent attenders may reflect poor doctor/patient relationship of this group.