Table 1.

Characteristics of 361 frequent attenders by age group. Figures are number (percentage) of patients

	18-45 years (n=189)	46-65 years (n=172)
Sex:
Men	52 (28)	77 (45)
Women	137 (73)	95 (55)
Employment:
Manual	30 (16)	39 (23)
Non-manual	81 (43)	37 (22)
Housewife	50 (27)	31 (18)
Retired/unemployed	28 (15)	65 (38)
Marital status:
Single	59 (31)	22 (13)
Married/cohabiting	115 (61)	122 (71)
Separated/divorced	12 (6)	11 (6)
Widowed	3 (2)	17 (10)
Ethnic group:
White	154 (82)	143 (83)
Non-white	35 (19)	29 (17)