TY - JOUR T1 - Frequent attenders in general practice: medical, psychological and social characteristics JF - The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners JO - J R Coll Gen Pract SP - 337 LP - 340 VL - 35 IS - 276 AU - J.N. Westhead Y1 - 1985/07/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/35/276/337.abstract N2 - A group of frequent attenders at a general practice surgery have been studied by comparison with a group of age-and sex-matched controls. Frequent attenders are distinguished by a high predisposition to neurotic illness (as measured by the `N' score of the Eysenck personality questionnaire) and a high prevalence of affective neurosis. Poor past physical health was commonly found among the frequent attenders and comprised for the most part the common chronic physical illnesses. Of the social characteristics studied only marital breakdown was found significantly more often in frequent attenders than controls. ER -