General practitioners’ views towards management of common mental health disorders: Τhe critical role of continuing medical education

BACKGROUND: The disability burden of common mental health disorders is enormous and should be faced at the first point of contact in the healthcare system. General Practitioners (GPs) are called to recognize, diagnose, and manage patients with mental health disorders, a task which is not always addressed successfully. The study aims at examining the relationship between mental health education of GPs and self-reported opinions on the care they provide to patients with mental disorders in Greece. METHODS: A questionnaire investigating GPs' viewpoints regarding diagnostic methods, referral rates and overall management of patients with mental disorders, and how these are impacted by their education on mental health, was employed, in a randomly selected sample of 353 GPs in Greece. Suggestions and proposals about improvement of ongoing mental health training, along with organizational reforming were also recorded. RESULTS: Received Continuing Medical Education (CME) is characterized as insufficient by 56.1% of the GPs. More than half of the GPs participate in clinical tutorials and mental health conferences once per three years or less. The level of educational score on mental health is associated positively with decisiveness on management of patients and increases self-confidence. A percentage of 77.6% states knowledge of the appropriate treatment and 56.1% agree to initiate treatment without referring to a specialist. However, low to moderate self-confidence about diagnosis and treatment is stated by 47.5%. According to GPs, critical points for improving mental health primary care are the liaison psychiatry and high degree of CME. CONCLUSION: Greek GPs are calling for focused and continuing medical education, in the field of psychiatry, along with essential structural and organizational reforming of the healthcare system, including an efficient liaison psychiatry. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-023-02017-5.