Perception, attitudes and needs of Primary Care professionals as regards the patient with dementia

Objective: To find out the perception, attitudes and needs expressed by primary care professionals in the Girona (Spain) health area as regards the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with cognitive disorders. Design: Cross sectional study conducted in 26 primary healthcare areas (ABS) in Girona. Setting: Primary healthcare areas (ABS) in Girona. Participants: Physicians and primary nursing care (PNC). Main measuraments: Self-administered questionnaire by the professionals in the centres. In the context of regular meetings of the teams. Results: A total 218 practitioners from 19 ABS (73% of total) responded to the questionnaire (108 physicians and 110 primary nursing care-PNC-). Almost all (98.6%) of participants thought they needed training in dementia, but 49.1% of physicians and 74.5% of PNC mentioned never having any specific training or not in the last 5 years. A total of 88.7% of doctors do not make a diagnosis of dementia on a regular basis, and only in 25.5% of cases do they make one in the mild stages of dementia. The main barriers reported by physicians in the diagnosis of dementia were the lack of confidence in diagnosis (32.6%) and lack of consultation time (31.4%). The great majority (87%) of physicians mentioned difficulties in monitoring and control of these patients. Conclusions: This study provides useful information for those involved in the care of dementia. It identifies priority training issues, and barriers and difficulties in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of these patients in the field of primary care. (C) 2010 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.