Need for care from the patient perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Only a small part of anxiety and depression patients receive care for their mental disorder and even less patients receive the care they wanted. People have different needs for care, so it is important to investigate the patient’s perspective. OBJECTIVES: To explore the specific needs for care in patients with anxiety and depression and to explore in what extent these needs have been met. Identify perceived barriers to receive different forms of help. METHODS: The Perceived Need for Care Questionnaire (PNCQ) was assessed in a sample of patients who had a CIDI diagnosis of anxiety or depression in the last 6 months, who were recruited from primary care. The present study used data from the baseline interview of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), a multi-site cohort study to describe the long term course of depression and anxiety disorders. RESULTS: One third of patients who received counselling or skills training wanted more of it. Almost all medication needs were met. There was high unmet need for counselling and information but almost no need for practical support. Important reasons to abstain from certain services were self-reliance, pessimism about outcomes and ignorance about possible services. CONCLUSIONS: People seem to prefer talking about their problems over medical solutions. The barriers to care found in this study, can have practical implications for clinical practice as well as the community