MIDAS Project Publication Abstracts
Zimmerman, M., Mattia, J.I. Principal and additional DSM-IV disorders
for which outpatients seek treatment. Psychiatric Services, 2000, 51,
1299-1304
Objective: Epidemiological studies indicate that most patients in
the community do not get treatment for psychiatric disorders. Unknown is
whether individuals who present for outpatient psychiatric treatment seek
treatment for all the disorders that they have, or whether they only
desire treatment for the principal reason that they seek treatment. The
goal of the present study was to determine which Axis I psychiatric
disorders motivate patients into treatment seeking. Method: Four
hundred psychiatric outpatients were interviewed with the Structured
Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). For patients with more than one
disorder, the diagnoses were assigned as principal or additional according
to the DSM-IV convention of whether it was the patient's stated primary
reason for presenting for treatment. For all current disorders, patients
were asked if the symptoms of each diagnosed disorder were a reason (or
one of the reasons) for seeking treatment. Results: Nearly all
patients wanted treatment for their major depression, and more than 85% of
patients with panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and
generalized anxiety disorder indicated that the symptoms of these
disorders were a reason for seeking treatment. Between one-half to
two-thirds of patients with social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder,
intermittent explosive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder and substance
use disorders reported that the symptoms of these disorders were a reason
for seeking treatment. Only 30% of individuals with specific phobia
indicated that their phobic fears were a reason for seeking treatment. Conclusion:
There was great variability in patients' desire for treatment among
patients with differing Axis I disorders. Possible reasons why patients do
not want treatment for all the disorders that are present at the time of
the initial evaluation are discussed.
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