General practitioners' management of patients consulting for "mental distress at work"

BACKGROUND: Mental distress at work is a complex multifactorial phenomenon liable to impact health and personal life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the proportion of general practice consultations for mental distress at work and determine how general practitioners (GPs) manage these patients and the factors leading to consultation. METHODS: The frequency of consultations for mental distress at work was assessed on a self-administered questionnaire sent to the general practitioners (GPs) of the Loire administrative Departement (France). Information on factors leading to consultation on management was obtained by a self-administered questionnaire in a sample of GPs and patients. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were included by 16 GPs. 27% of patients were referred to an occupational physician. The frequency of consultations for mental distress at work was about 2%. Patients may wait several weeks or months before consulting, although a majority reported an impact on family life and health. A triggering event was often present, but no work accident procedure was undertaken. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of better identifying adverse experience of working conditions and impaired mental health and reporting this to an occupational physician who can undertake preventive measures. Communication between occupational physician, employee and GP needs to be improved.