title: [Clinical prevalence and reason for visit of patients with generalized anxiety disorder seen in the psychiatry out-patient clinics in Spain. Results of the LIGANDO study].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is frequent and has a great impact on quality of life. Its prevalence in the general population and in primary care has been established previously in Spain; however it still must be determined in the mental health.
  
  
  METHODS
  An epidemiological, multicenter and cross-sectional study was carried out, collecting demographic data, reason for consultation and presence of GAD diagnosis according to ICD-10 criteria of their first 75 visiting patients on a randomly selected representative sample of 312 psychiatrists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 20,347 subjects was recorded. Clinic prevalence of GAD was 13.7% (95% confidence interval: 13.3-14.2). The most frequent reason for psychiatric consultation was depressive symptoms (26.7%) followed by symptoms of anxiety (18.2%). In 71.4% of GAD patients, the reason for consultation was anxiety symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GAD clinic prevalence in Spain is high. Almost one out of three GAD-patients visits the psychiatrist office for a reason other than this condition.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Department, Hospital Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain. luiscabmar@yahoo.es
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bobes
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vilardaga
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rejas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013030:Spain; D055815:Young Adult