[People with dementia have more contact with their general practitioners: contact with GPs peaks around the time of diagnosis].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how often and why people with dementia and their partners have contact with the general practitioner (GP) before and after the diagnosis of dementia.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
Patients given the diagnosis of 'dementia' in the period 2006-2011 were selected from patient records of GP practices participating in the NIVEL Primary Care Database; data were also collected from the patients' partners. Patients and their partners were compared with a reference group. The number of GP contacts from 2 years before until 1 year after diagnosis were analysed.


RESULTS
There were data on 823 patients with dementia and 184 partners. People with dementia had more frequent GP contacts from 4 months before diagnosis until 8 months thereafter. The mean number of GP contacts was 21.5 for people with dementia versus 17.4 for people without dementia in the total 3-year period. Reasons for more frequent contact were depression, abrasions/scratches/blisters and memory/concentration/orientation disorders before diagnosis. After diagnosis, memory/concentration/orientation disorders and general decline were more common reasons for contact than in the reference group. The frequency of GP contacts for partners was not significantly higher.


CONCLUSIONS
People with dementia have more contact with their GP than people without dementia. From 1.5 years before diagnosis they visit the GP with specific complaints more often. Their partners also have regular contact with their GP, especially in the year after diagnosis.
NIVEL, Utrecht.
Patriek
P
Mistiaen
Marianne
M
Heins
Irina
I
Stirbu-Wagner
Joke
J
Korevaar
Robert
R
Verheij
Anneke L
AL
Francke
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors