A survey of mental health of new patients at traditional Chinese medical clinics

Abstract

In Chinese societies, traditional Chinese medical clinics are popular and play a significant role in primary healthcare. The current study aimed to examine the mental health of new patients at Chinese medical clinic. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted. Subjects were new patients of a Chinese medical clinic recruited through 100% consecutive sampling during a 5-week period. A response rate of 84.2% and a sample size of 367 were achieved. Sample included 111 (30.2%) men and 256 (69.8%) women. Mean age was 44.0 (SD = 17.1). Presenting problems were all somatic, with 68.3% lasted over 1 month and 37.1% lasted over 1 year. In the month prior to first consultation, 26.4%, 33.2% and 19.3% patients consulted other public, private and Chinese medical clinic on average 1.5, 1.9 and 3.0 times respectively. Besides, 7.4% and 6.5% patients self-administered Western and Chinese drugs on average 1.3 and 2.4 times respectively. Using a cut-off of ? 5 on GHQ-12, prevalence of common mental disorders was estimated at 21.0%. In conclusion, findings revealed that common mental disorders were prevalent among new Chinese medicine patients al-though presenting problems of subjects were all somatic. Many of these presenting medical conditions were chronic, with 68.3% lasting over 1 month and 37.1% lasting over 1 year. Over 70% patients had been seek-ing various forms of treatment in the month prior to first consultation. Mental health and illness behavior of Chinese medicine patients warrants further research and attention.