Illness and disease in female patients. II. A study of consultation techniques designed to improve the exploration of illness in general practice.

Health problems in female patients often confuse the general practitioner. Many of them are classified as "unspecific" or "various". Psychiatric, psychosomatic or musculosceletal diagnoses may imply a diagnostic level inadequate for proper solution of the problems. This study of middle-aged female patients assumes that such conceptual inadequacies are related to the communication and the context of the consultation. A consultation technique designed to improve the exploration of illness based on the women's own "medical" language is described. The results indicate that this may be an effective tool in the consultation. Mobilizing the women's own resources seems to improve the doctor's insight in her illness and the outcome of the consultation.