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General Practitioners

With a rapidly ageing population, general practitioners seek help in order to identify and manage mental disorders in older patients better. We are undertaking research to develop instruments and protocols for GPS to identify early dementia more accurately.

The GP-COG is a new screening tool for cognitive impairment for use in general practice. It was designed as an alternative to the Mini Mental State Exam and it is more acceptable to GPS and patients with equal sensitivity. A strength of this tool is its brevity - 4 minutes for completion of the patient section and a further 4 minutes for the informant section (this can be done over the phone). This tool is currently being promoted for use in general practice.

Staff involved on this study include Professor Brodaty, Dimity Pond, Felicia Huppert, Georgina Luscombe, Karen Berman, Nicki Kemp and Louise Harding.This study also involved local general practitioners from four divisions of general practice: Central, South-East, St George and Illawarra.

To view some of our research click on the following links (PDF files):

Diagnosis and management of dementia in general practice (PDF - 160KB)
The GP-COG: a new screening test for dementia designed for general practice (PDF - 111KB)
Characteristics of the GP-COG, a screening tool for cognitive impairment (PDF - 65KB)
Diagnosing dementia in primary care: the accuracy of informant reports (PDF - 279KB)

Contact

Our unit is located on the grounds of the Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick in NSW, Australia. We are currently situated on the ground floor of the Euroa Centre.

T +61 (2) 9382 3759
F +61 (2) 9382 3762

Postal Address
Ground Floor, Euroa Centre,
Prince of Wales Hospital,
Avoca St, Randwick,
NSW, AUSTRALIA 2031