General practitioners’ knowledge, practices, and obstacles in the diagnosis and management of dementia

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To identify general practitioners' (GPs) knowledge, practices, and obstacles with regard to the diagnosis and management of dementia. METHODS: Standardized questionnaires covering knowledge, practices, and obstacles were distributed among a purposive sample of GPs in Kathmandu, Nepal. Three hundred and eighty GPs responded (response rate = 89%). RESULTS: Knowledge of practitioners' with regard to the diagnosis and management of dementia was unsatisfactory (<50%). Diagnosis and management barriers are presented with regard to GP, patient, and carer factors. Specifically, the results address the following issues: communicating the diagnosis, negative views of dementia, difficulty diagnosing early-stage dementia, acceptability of specialists, responsibility for extra issues, knowledge of dementia and aging, less awareness of declining abilities, diminished resources to handle care, lack of specific guidelines, and poor awareness of epidemiology. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic changes mean that dementia will represent a significant problem in the future. The following paper outlines the problems and solutions that the Nepalese medical community needs to adopt to deal effectively with diagnosis, care, and management of dementia.