Hungarian general practitioners’ attitude and the role of education in dementia care

BACKGROUND: Dementia in the elderly constitutes a growing challenge in healthcare worldwide, including Hungary. There is no previous report on the role of general practitioners in the management of dementia. AIM: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the Hungarian general practitioners’ attitude toward their patients living with dementia as well as dementia care. Our goal was also to assess their willingness and habits in assessing dementia. Additionally we wanted to explore the role of education about dementia, and its impact on their attitude in dementia management. METHODS: As part of a large survey, a self-administered questionnaire was filled out voluntarily by 402 of general practitioners. According to our preset criteria, 277 surveys were selected for evaluation. Descriptive statistical analysis and Likert-scale analysis were performed. FINDINGS: Half of the doctors (49.8%) indicated that they conducted a test to assess cognitive functions in case of suspicion. Among the respondents who did not assess, 50.0% of physicians cited lack of time as the main reason for not doing so and 14.4% of them had not proper knowledge of testing methods. The respondents most often mentioned feelings toward their patients with dementia, were regret (Likert-scale mean: 3.33), helplessness (3.28) and sadness (3.07). The majority of physicians thought the treatment of dementia was difficult (4.46). Most of the respondents (81.2%) indicated that in the past 2 years they had not participated in any training about dementia. Those practitioners who had participated in some form of education were less likely to feel helpless facing a patient with dementia, and education also determined their approach to dementia care.