IngentaConnect Concordance with clinical practice guidelines for dementia in gen...

Authors: Wilcock, Jane¹; Iliffe, Steve¹; Turner, Stephen²; Bryans, Michelle³; O'Carroll, Ronan⁴; Keady, John⁵; Levin, Enid⁶; Downs, Murna⁷

Source: Aging and Mental Health, Volume 13, Number 2, March 2009 , pp. 155-161(7)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

Background: Dementia is said to be under-recognized and sub-optimally managed in primary care, but there is little information about actual processes of diagnosis and clinical care. Aim: To determine general practitioners' concordance with clinical guidelines on the diagnosis and management of patients with dementia. Design: Unblinded, cluster randomized pre-test-post-test controlled trial involving 35 practices in the UK. Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of probable or confirmed dementia were identified in practices, and permission sought from the older person and/or their carer to study the medical records of these patients. Medical records were reviewed using a data extraction tool designed for the study and based on published guidelines, and unweighted scores for diagnostic concordance and management concordance were calculated. Results: We reviewed 450 records of patients aged 75 and over with a diagnosis of dementia and found that: only 4% of cases were identified first in secondary care; two-thirds of those identified in primary care were referred immediately; about one-third identified had informant history and blood tests documented at the Index consultation and one-fifth underwent cognitive function testing. Discussion: The records analysed in this study came from a period before the Quality Outcomes Framework and show that the documentation in primary care of the diagnostic process in dementia syndromes is good, although there were significant gaps, particularly around depression case-finding. Information about management processes were less evident in the records.

Keywords: dementia; detection; management; primary care; concordance

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/13607860802636206

Affiliations: 1: Research Department of Primary Care & Population Health, RFUCLMS, London, UK 2: Dental Health Services Research Unit, Dundee, UK 3: Department of Psychology, St John's Hospital, Livingston, UK 4: Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, UK 5: The University of Manchester/Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, Manchester, UK 6: Social Care Institute for Excellence, London, UK 7: Division of Dementia Studies, Bradford Dementia Group, School of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

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Concordance with clinical practice guidelines for dementia in general practice