Characteristics of the GPCOG, a screening tool for cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND

Early dementia diagnosis is aided by the use of brief screening tests; scores can be biased by patient and informant characteristics such as age, gender and education.

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether the General Practitioner's Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG), a brief screening tool for detecting cognitive impairment comprising a patient cognitive test and questions to an informant, is biased by patient and informant characteristics.

DESIGN

Sixty-seven general practitioners recruited consecutive patients (with informants). Patients were subsequently assessed by a research psychologist, and DSM-IV diagnoses assigned following a case-conference.

SETTING

Primary Care.

SUBJECTS

Two hundred and eighty three home-dwelling individuals, 11.3% of whom were aged 50-74 years with suspected memory problems and the rest aged 75 or more.

METHODS

The GPCOG, Cambridge Mental Disorder of the Elderly Examination cognitive scale (CAMCOG), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the SF-12 Health Survey (SF-12) were administered and demographic data were collected and consensus DSM-IV diagnoses of dementia made. Relationships between patient and informant characteristics and the GPCOG measure were examined using Pearson correlations and linear regression analyses.

RESULTS

There were correlations in GPCOG-patient scores with age, education and depression scores but on regression analysis only age was associated with the GPCOG-patient section. The GPCOG-informant section was free of bias.

CONCLUSIONS

The GPCOG has advantages for use in primary care and is free of many biases common in other scales.