The impact of dementia on the use of general practitioners among the elderly in Norway

Objective. To assess the use of general practitioners (GPs), in elderly home-dwelling persons in Norway and explore the impact of cognitive decline, age, and living situation. Design. Prospective longitudinal study. Setting. Data were collected from municipalities in four counties in Norway in the period from January 2009 to August 2012. Subjects. Home-dwelling persons 70 years of age or older, receiving in-home care. Main outcome measures. Use of GPs over a period of 18 months related to cognitive state, functional status, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and demographics. Results. A total of 599 persons were included. The mean annual number of consultations per participant was 5.6 (SD = 5.4). People with moderate to severe dementia had fewer consultations per year compared with those with mild or no dementia (3.7 versus 5.8 per year, p = 0.004). In the multivariate model higher age predicted fewer consultations while affective neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with an increase in frequency of consultations. The most frequent reason to consult a GP was cardiovascular diseases (36.8% of all consultations), followed by musculoskeletal complaints (12.1%) and psychiatric diagnoses (8.7%). Conclusion. Our study shows that the home-dwelling elderly with moderate to severe dementia in Norway consult their GP less often than persons with mild or no dementia. This could indicate a need for better interaction between the municipal care and social services and the general practitioners.