title: General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition: use in primary care prior to memory clinic referral.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure current and comparative frequencies of use of the General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG) scale in consecutive primary care referrals to a dedicated secondary care memory clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over 6 months (January-June 2015), referral letters from primary care (n = 121) were examined for mention of GPCOG use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of patients administered any cognitive screening instrument before referral was 41.3%, with 11.6% administered the GPCOG, a significant increase compared with prior cohorts. However, GPCOG was incorrectly used or documented in 29% of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GPCOG use is increasing in primary care settings, but training in its correct use and scoring may be required to ensure that its administration makes meaningful information available.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Function Clinic, Walton Centre for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wojtowicz
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Function Clinic, Walton Centre for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Larner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D063127:Secondary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: GPCOG; dementia; diagnosis; primary care; screening