title: Examination of level of knowledge in Italian general practitioners attending an education session on diagnosis and management of the early stage of Alzheimer's disease: pass or fail?
abstract: We detected the general level of knowledge about the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and subsequent care in general practitioners (GPs) from Southern Italy. We explored also the GP perception about their knowledge and training on diagnosis and management of AD.
  
  
  
  On a sample of 131 GPs, we administered two questionnaires: the GP-Knowledge, evaluating GPs' expertise about AD epidemiology, differential diagnosis, and available treatments, and the GP-QUestionnaire on Awareness of Dementia (GP-QUAD), assessing the GPs' attitudes, awareness, and practice regarding early diagnosis of dementia.
  
  
  
  Specific screening tests or protocols to diagnose and manage dementia were not used by 53% of our GPs. The training on the recognition of early AD signs and symptoms was considered inadequate by 55% of the participants. Females were more likely to consider their training insufficient (58%) compared to males (53%). Female GPs were less likely to prescribe antipsychotic drugs to control neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and suggest specialist advice in late stage of cognitive impairment. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) performed only on GP-QUAD suggested two dimensions explaining 26.1% ("GP attitude") and 20.1% ("GP knowledge") of the inertia for a total of 46.2%,
  
  
  
  In our survey on GP clinical practice, several problems in properly recognizing early AD symptoms and subsequently screening patients to be referred to secondary/tertiary care centers for diagnosis confirmation have emerged. In the future, specific training programs and educational projects for GPs should be implemented also in Italy to improve detection rates and management of dementia in primary care.
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Veneziani
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panza
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Medicine-Memory Unit,Rare Disease Centre,Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Solfrizzi
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Capozzo
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Rosaria
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Barulli
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leo
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Madia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lozupone
authors.affiliation: Unit of Biostatistics,IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza,San Giovanni Rotondo,Foggia,Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arcuti
authors.affiliation: Unit of Biostatistics,IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza,San Giovanni Rotondo,Foggia,Italy.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Copetti
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cardinali
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tursi
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iurillo
authors.affiliation: Research and Development,Chiesi Farmaceutici,Parma,Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno Pietro
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Imbimbo
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Unit & Laboratory of Gerontology and Geriatrics,Department of Medical Sciences,IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza",San Giovanni Rotondo,Foggia,Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seripa
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit,Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sense Organs,University of Bari "Aldo Moro",Bari,Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Logroscino
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D019468:Disease Management; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000193:education*; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000193:education*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; dementia; general practitioner; knowledge; primary care