The management of dementia in general practice. A field test of guidelines.

INTRODUCTION: Guidelines for the management of dementia in non-institutionalized patients living in the community were developed by a broadly representative group. We assessed their usefulness. METHOD: The draft guidelines included emphasis on psychosocial issues. They were field tested by 17 general practitioners with 119 dementia patients. RESULTS: There was a high prevalence of comorbidity in the patients and frequent psychosocial issues in their management that were often not addressed. The guidelines were rated as very helpful for at least one aspect of care for 50% of the patients. DISCUSSION: The guidelines were found to be useful to GPs.