How do General Practitioners Diagnose Dementia?

By means of a qualitative study, we set out to generate hypothesesabout the way general practitioners (GPs) diagnosed dementia.We looked for triggers for the diagnosis of dementia. Ten GPswere interviewed about four dementia cases taken from theirown practices. GPs are more concerned with treatment than withthe diagnosis of dementia as such, as diagnosis is performedin relation to treatment. The most important aid was the evolutionof the clinical tables based on the information of caregivers.Important triggers were changes of activities of daily lifefunction, behaviour and cognition. Acute illness and loss ofthe key caregiver were relevatory moments. Recommendations aremade for the improvement of the diagnostic abilities of GPs.