Use of the PRIME-MD Patient Health Questionnaire for estimating the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in French primary care: comparison with family practitioner estimates and relationship to psychotropic medication use

High consumption of anxiolytic and antidepressant medications in France is confirmed but not explained either by higher prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders as compared with other locations or by unusually high survey-day prescription rates. A possible explanation would be the organization of the French health care system, which has multiple sources for obtaining medication.