Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Canadian Family Physician logoLink to Canadian Family Physician
. 1996 Aug;42:1496–1502.

Les aptitudes des médecins de famille à soigner les patients atteints de démence. Une enquête auprès des omnipraticiens du Québec.

The competence of family physicians in caring for dementia patients. A survey of general practitioners in Quebec

L Poulin de Courval 1, A Saroyan 1, L Joseph 1, S Gauthier 1
PMCID: PMC2146827  PMID: 8845723

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge and skills of general practitioners in Quebec with respect to persons with dementia. DESIGN: A questionnaire containing 47 multiple-choice questions on aptitude and nine questions on practice profiles and demographics. SETTING: Province of Quebec. PARTICIPANTS: Twelve hundred general practitioners selected randomly. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Performance with respect to the questionnaire's four objectives: to rate background knowledge, to evaluate physicians' knowledge of the assessment and treatment of dementia, to assess follow-up, and to assess interpersonal skills. RESULTS: Average performance on the questionnaire was 64.7%, with a standard deviation of 11.79%. Performance did not differ markedly from one objective to the next. Most respondents were male (61.6%), working in urban settings (61.7%). Most (72.5%) were between 25 and 44 years, and 44.7% had between 6 and 15 years' experience. About half (44.7%) belonged to group practices, 43.8% worked in acute care hospitals, and 20.6% worked in extended care hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Quebec general practitioners have average ability to care for patients with dementia. Continuing education should focus on increasing physicians' knowledge of dementia, especially for those with the lowest scores; physicians 55 years and older, those practising alone, and those who spend less than 60% of their practice time with elderly patients.

Full text

PDF
1496

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Folstein M. F., Folstein S. E., McHugh P. R. "Mini-mental state". A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res. 1975 Nov;12(3):189–198. doi: 10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Glosser G., Wexler D., Balmelli M. Physicians' and families' perspectives on the medical management of dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1985 Jun;33(6):383–391. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1985.tb07147.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Haley W. E., Clair J. M., Saulsberry K. Family caregiver satisfaction with medical care of their demented relatives. Gerontologist. 1992 Apr;32(2):219–226. doi: 10.1093/geront/32.2.219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Leclère H., Beaulieu M. D., Bordage G., Sindon A., Couillard M. Why are clinical problems difficult? General practitioners' opinions concerning 24 clinical problems. CMAJ. 1990 Dec 15;143(12):1305–1315. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. O'Connor D. W., Pollitt P. A., Hyde J. B., Brook C. P., Reiss B. B., Roth M. Do general practitioners miss dementia in elderly patients? BMJ. 1988 Oct 29;297(6656):1107–1110. doi: 10.1136/bmj.297.6656.1107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Reisberg B., Ferris S. H., de Leon M. J., Crook T. The Global Deterioration Scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia. Am J Psychiatry. 1982 Sep;139(9):1136–1139. doi: 10.1176/ajp.139.9.1136. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Rubin S. M., Glasser M. L., Werckle M. A. The examination of physicians' awareness of dementing disorders. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1987 Dec;35(12):1051–1058. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1987.tb04920.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Family Physician are provided here courtesy of College of Family Physicians of Canada

RESOURCES