A cohort of 335 outpatients from the case-register area near Groningen was followed with the case register for a period of 6 months. The aim was to identify factors predicting with what type of mental health workers, psychiatrists or other workers, patients would be in contact. Contacts directly with more members of the multidisciplinary team were rare. The best predictors were previous contacts, marital state and diagnosis. Those seen before by other workers, single/divorced/widowed patients, and those with a psychosis/addiction/other diagnosis than a psychoneurosis went more often to a non-psychiatric member of the multidisciplinary team.