title: Towards diagnostic conversational profiles of patients presenting with dementia or functional memory disorders to memory clinics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic conversations with a doctor can contribute to the clinical differentiation between functional memory disorders (FMD) and memory problems related to neurodegenerative diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Conversation Analysis of video recordings of neurologists' interactions with patients attending a specialist memory clinic. "Gold standard" diagnoses were made independently of CA findings by a multi-disciplinary team based on clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two discrete conversational profiles for patients with memory complaints emerged, including (i) who attends the clinic (i.e., whether or not patients are accompanied), and (ii) patients' responses to neurologists' questions about memory problems, such as difficulties with compound questions and providing specific and elaborated examples and frequent "I don't know" responses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specific communicative difficulties are characteristic of the interaction patterns of patients with a neurodegenerative pathology. Those difficulties are manifest in memory clinic interactions with neurologists, thereby helping to differentiate patients with dementia from those with FMD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings demonstrate that conversational profiles based on patients' contributions to memory clinic encounters have diagnostic potential to assist the screening and referral process from primary care, and the diagnostic service in secondary care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK. Electronic address: C.Elsey@lboro.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Elsey
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Drew
authors.affiliation: School of Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blackburn
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harkness
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; IRCCS Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo, Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: Annalena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venneri
authors.affiliation: Academic Neurology Unit, University of Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reuber
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003142:Communication; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072141:Neurologists; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D014741:Video Recording
keywords: Communication; Conversation Analysis; Dementia; Differential diagnosis; Functional memory disorders