Biomedical subjects

M Foets

Publications and source records attributed to M Foets.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Sex differences among recipients of benzodiazepines in Dutch general practice.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse sex differences among recipients of benzodiazepines in Dutch general practice. DESIGN: Study of consultations and associated interventions as recorded in the Dutch national survey of general practice. SETTING: Practices of 45 general practitioners monitored during 1 April to 30 June 1987. SUBJECTS: 61,249 patients (29,035 (47.4%) men in the age groups 19-44, 45-64, and 65 years and over. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms among recipients of repeat as well as new benzodiazepine prescriptions stratified by sex and age. RESULTS: Prescriptions for benzodiazepines were found to be significantly more common among women than among men, (a) after correcting for the sex distribution of the total patient population, and (b) in the two oldest age groups after correcting for the number of consultations. Of all prescriptions for benzodiazepines, 89% (6055/6777) were repeats and 70% (4759/6777) requests. Only 9% (439/4759) of these were authorized by the general practitioner, the rest being issued by the general practitioner's assistant after he or she had referred to the diagnosis in the patient's record. In contrast, only three (1%) of the 492 first time recipients of benzodiazepines had requested a prescription and were not seen by the general practitioner. Women (43/96; 45%) aged 45-64 years received their first prescription for benzodiazepines almost twice as often as men (15/63; 24%) without symptoms or a diagnosis being an indication (female to male relative risk 1.88 (95% confidence interval 1.15 to 3.08)). CONCLUSIONS: The sex difference among first time recipients of benzodiazepines seems to be due to general practitioners being less stringent when prescribing this drug for women. The difference continues in repeat prescriptions, physicians failing to check adequately the need for these.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

An orientation toward help-seeking for emotional problems.

In recent years, many researchers tried to explain the social selection in use of mental health care services. A modest role is attributed to the orientation toward help-seeking. This article studies this orientation. Our research-population consisted of 10,171 Dutch persons, aged 18 and older. Analysis showed that most people are prone to seek help for one or more emotional problems. People who are more prone to seek help are younger, have had more education and have a higher family income. They have more often acquaintances working in mental health care. People who are more prone to seek help do not see chance as the locus of control of health. These people are less dependent on their GP for common disorders and are more open about mental health matters. The results of discriminant analysis are not satisfactory, but when we try to distinguish the groups of people who are and who are not willing to seek help, we see that the best discriminating factor is their help-seeking attitude for common disorders. People who have high expectations from the GP for common disorders, clearly do have a preference to seek help for the emotional problems. The groups of people who are more willing to seek help from the GP compared to mental health professionals cannot be distinguished by these expectations. Here the level of education discriminates fairly well: people who are more prone to seek help from a GP have a lower educational level. Future research should be focussed on the testing of a theoretical model that explains the orientation toward help-seeking for emotional problems and selection in help-seeking with longitudinal data.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

The Primary Health Care Project in Belgium: a survey on the utilization of health services.

The article consists of two major parts. In the Introduction a general overview is given of the Primary Health Care Project, carried out in Belgium from 1975 to 1978 in the broader framework of a large National Project in the Social Sciences. An explanation is given of the scope of the study, its method and sampling. Since the very broad study design, it was decided to make a selection of interesting results. An overview is given of the most relevant data with respect to the utilization of health care services and of medicines. After a short clarification of the concept of utilization behaviour, some data are presented in order to describe the use of medical services and the consumption of medicines. Secondly an attempt is made to explain utilization behaviour. For the explanatory model used in this project, the WHO-model functioned as an important source of inspiration. In this way it surmounted the limitations of much previous research. This model included variables on the level of the individual-perceived morbidity, predisposing factors and enabling factors-as well as system variables--such as degree of urbanization, proximity and the way of functioning of the medical supply. The research results have successfully shown that: there is a strong relationship between perceived presence and perceived seriousness of morbidity on the one hand, utilization behaviour on the other hand; the health perspective (including medical knowledge, values and attitudes) seems to have a differential influence on utilization behaviour, depending on age and social background of the respondent; the inclusion of socio-structural variables is an innovation in the Belgian health care research. The hypothetical character of the relationships found here is largely supported by the research simultaneously conducted in the French-speaking region of Belgium; accessibility and socialization are factors having a clear influence on the use of general practice services. The importance of the presence and the organization of the supply in the explanation of utilization behaviour is partly confirmed.

Attitude to Health↗