title: Diagnosing dementia: a comparison between a monodisciplinary and a multidisciplinary approach.
abstract: Discrepancies were examined in diagnostic outcome between a monodisciplinary approach and a multidisciplinary, criteria-based approach in patients referred to a university memory clinic. Of 278 patients not fulfilling dementia criteria, 19 had been previously diagnosed as demented (specificity: 0.93). In 60 of 152 demented patients, dementia had not been diagnosed before (sensitivity: 0.61). Underreporting was frequent for mildly demented patients and for patients with coexisting depressive symptoms. In patients referred by psychiatrists, sensitivity rates for dementia and Alzheimer's disease were low; in patients referred by neurologists, depression often went unreported. Results underscore the need for more frequent use of integrated multidisciplinary services for cognitively disturbed patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychology/Psychobiology, University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Verhey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jolles
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Ponds
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rozendaal
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Plugge
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: de Vet
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Vreeling
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: van der Lugt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003704:Dementia / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales