GPs' attitudes, awareness, and practice regarding early diagnosis of dementia.

Background: In primary care, the diagnosis of dementia is often delayed and the 2007 National Audit Office Report concluded action was needed to improve patient care and value for money.

Aim: To investigate the attitudes, awareness, and practice of GPs in England regarding early diagnosis and management of patients with dementia, and perceptions of local specialist services, to identify training or support needs.

Design Of Study: Secondary analysis of survey data that capture the above attitudes, awareness, and practice.

Setting: Online survey, targeting GP members of medeConnect.

Method: Survey data were obtained using an anonymised online self-completion questionnaire, and then analysed using standard data-analysis software.

Results: A total of 1011 GPs across the eight English regions responded. Older GPs were more confident in diagnosing and giving advice about dementia, but less likely to feel that early diagnosis was beneficial, and more likely to feel that patients with dementia can be a drain on resources with little positive outcome. Younger GPs were more positive and felt that much could be done to improve quality of life. Attitudes had no correlation with sex. GPs in general felt they had not had sufficient basic and post-qualifying training in dementia, and overall knowledge about dementia was low.

Conclusion: Much could be done to improve GPs' knowledge of dementia, and the confidence of older GPs could be an educational resource. However, greater experience may create scepticism about early diagnosis because of the perceived poor quality of specialist services.