National Amb

Factsheet

ulatory Medical Care Survey

PSYCHIATRY

Annual office visit rates by patient’s 

age: 2009

<15 5

15–24 13

25–44 12

45–64 15

65–74 7

75+ 6

Male 9

Female 12

Number of visits per 100 persons per year

In 2009, there were an estimated 

32 million visits to nonfederally 

employed, office-based psychiatrists in 

the United States. Two-thirds of the 

visits were made by persons 25–64 

years of age.

Primary expected source of 

payment included:

 Private insurance — 46%

 No insurance1

 — 20%

 Medicaid — 19%

 Medicare — 14%

1 No insurance is defined as having only self-pay, no charge, 

 or charity visits as payment sources. 

The major reason for visit was:

 Chronic problem, routine — 80%

 Chronic problem, flare-up — 10%

 New problem — 7%

 

The top 4 reasons given by patients 

for visiting psychiatrists were: 

 Depression

 Anxiety and nervousness

 Medications

 Medical counseling

The top 5 diagnoses were:

 Psychoses, excluding major 

 depressive disorder

 Major depressive disorder 

 Attention deficit disorder

 Anxiety states

 Dysthymic disorder

Medications were provided or

prescribed at 87 percent of office visits. 

The top 5 generic substances utilized 

were:

 Bupropion

 Clonazepam

 Aripiprazole

 Sertraline

 Quetiapine

For more information, contact the 

Ambulatory Care Statistics Branch at 

301-458-4600 or visit our Web site at 

<www.cdc.gov/namcs>.

Percent distribution of office visits 

by patient’s age: 2009

36

30

16

10

5

<15 15–24 25–44 45–64 65–74

3

75+

Patient’s age in years
THE IMPORTANCE OF NAMCS DATA Psychiatry

NAMCS data are widely used in research studies appearing in nationally recognized medical 

journals, including JAMA, Archives of General Psychiatry, and American Journal of Psychiatry.

Here are just a few recent publications using NAMCS data: 

Mojtabai R, Olfson M. National trends in psychotropic medication polypharmacy in office-based 

psychiatry. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 67(1):26–36. Jan 2010.

Aparasu RR, Jano E, Bhatara V. Concomitant antipsychotic prescribing in US outpatient settings. Res 

Social Adm Pharm. 5(3):234–41. Sep 2009. [Epub Jan 2009]

Mojtabai R, Olfson M. National trends in psychotherapy by office-based psychiatrists. Arch Gen 

Psychiatry. 65(8):962–70. Aug 2008.

Sclar DA, Robison LM, Skaer TL. Ethnicity/race and the diagnosis of depression and use of 

antidepressants by adults in the United States. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 23(2):106–9. Mar 2008.

Blanco C, Patel SR, Liu, L et al. National Trends in Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care. Med Care.

45:1012–1019. 2007.

Aparasu RR, Bhatara V. Patterns and determinants of antipsychotic prescribing in children and 

adolescents, 2003–2004. Curr Med Res Opin. 23(1):49–56. Jan 2007.

Cooper WO, Arbogast PG, Ding H, Hickson GB, Fuchs DC, Ray WA. Trends in Prescribing of 

Antipsychotic Medications for US Children. Ambul Pediatr. 6(2):79–83. Mar–Apr 2006.

Liptak GS, Stuart T, Auinger P. Health Care Utilization and Expenditures for Children with Autism: Data 

from U.S. National Samples. J Autism Dev Disord. Jul 2006. [Epub ahead of print]

Sankaranarayanan J, Puumula SE. Antipsychotic use at adult ambulatory care visits by patients with 

mental health disorders in the United States, 1996–2003: National estimates and associated factors. Clin 

Ther. 29(4):723–41. Apr 2007.

Olfson M, Blanco C, Liu L, Moreno C, Laje G. National trends in the outpatient treatment of children 

and adolescents with antipsychotic drugs. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 63(6):679–85. Jun 2006.

The complete list of publications using NAMCS data, which includes hundreds of articles and 

reports, is available on our Web site.

NAMCS(FS)-14 (7-11)