We examined to what extent dementia and cognitive impairment are detected in a primary health care centre. A systematic sample of patients aged 70 years and above, who attended a primary health care centre for a doctor’s consultation (n = 350) were examined with a neuropsychiatric examination and an interview with a close informant. Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R. Medical records from the health centre were examined for entries on cognitive decline or dementia, other diagnoses and prescribed drugs. The prevalence of dementia was 16.3% and a further 3.1% had questionable dementia. Cognitive disturbances or dementia were noted in case records in 15 out of 57 (26%) demented cases, and in 1 out of 11 (9%) questionable dementias. Compared to non-demented patients, the demented had more diagnoses and a higher number of prescribed drugs. Severity and duration of dementia were associated with an increased detection.

Objective: The aims of this study were to describe the prevalence of mental disorders among elderly patients in primary care and to compare diagnoses from psychiatric interview with diagnoses in medical records.

Method: Patients aged 70 years and above attending a primary care centre (N=350) were studied using a psychiatric and medical record examination.

Results: The prevalence of mental disorder according to the psychiatric interview was 33% (16% dementia, 17% other mental disorders). Only 49% of these had any psychiatric diagnosis in case records and 17–38% received specific treatments. The frequency of psychiatric symptoms among those with no mental disorder was between 1% and 66%. Patients with mental disorders were more often females, had more visits to a doctor, more diagnoses in medical records, and were prescribed more drugs.

Conclusion: Mental disorders and symptoms are common among the elderly in primary care. More effort should be made to increase the recognition rate.

Objective - The aim of the present study was to find reasons for the low detection rate of dementia in primary care. Another aim was to investigate the attitudes and knowledge on dementia among Swedish general practitioners (GPs).

Design - Two-hundred-and-twenty-eight postal questionnaires were distributed to GPs in the county of Östergötland. Setting - Primary care in Sweden.

Main outcome measures - The opinions of GPs on dementia management in primary care.

Results - The response rate was 67%. GPs showed a good knowledge of dementia diseases but underestimated the occurrence of dementia. They presented a positive attitude towards managing patients with dementia and considered that existing drug therapy justified an active search for patients with dementia in primary care, but they believed the efficacy of the drugs to be limited. Assessing the social environment of patients and organising social support were regarded as the most difficult tasks in the management of demented patients.

Conclusion - The study indicates that the main obstacles are a lack of resources and a sceptical attitude to the benefits of drug treatment. Co-operation between the community services, specialist clinics and the primary care team should be improved.

The Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used test for cognitive function, but its usefulness as a screening tool for dementia has been debated. We investigated the ciiterion validity of the MMSE in patients, aged 70 years and above, attending a piimary care centre (PPC). The MMSE was administered (N=1225) and compared with further diagnosing of dementia according to DSM-III-R in a subgroup (N=350). The major finding was that the use of the traditional cut-off score of 23/24 points on MMSE, left more than 70% of mild cases and 30% of moderate cases undetected. When using a cut-off score of 26/27 a good criterion validity was found and an excellent agreement between the testing by the social worker at the PCC and the general practitioner in the patient's home. As the major problem in the dementia management has been under-detection, we recommend MMSE as an opportunistic screening test in PCC population.