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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| How do memory clinics compare with traditional old age psychiatry services? | | Author(s) | Anna Luce, Ian McKeith, Alan Swann |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 16, no 9, September 2001 |
| Pages | pp 837-845 |
| Keywords | Referrals ; Geriatric out-patients clinics ; Psychiatric treatment ; Diagnosis ; Comparison ; Newcastle upon Tyne. |
| Annotation | 100 consecutive referrals to the Northern Memory Clinic (NMC) in Newcastle upon Tyne were compared with 100 referrals to a traditional Old Age Psychiatry (OAPsych) service in the same city in terms of demographic variables, cognitive function (assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination) and diagnosis. The study also examined the ability of psychometric assessments (CAMCOG, MMSE, Trail-Making Tests A and B, Word Fluency) and CT scans included in the NMC assessment to differentiate between those with and without DSM-IV dementia. NMC patients were significantly younger, had lower levels of cognitive impairment and a wider range of diagnoses, compared with those in the OAPsych service. Both CAMCOG and MMSE were effective in distinguishing between dementing and non-dementing patients in the NMC sample. The study confirms that the memory clinic is targeting a distinct patient group compared to traditional old age psychiatry services, is identifying cases of dementia much earlier, and as such has the potential to make valuable contributions to patient care. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-011017217 A |
| Classmark | L5R: L6G: LP: LK7: 48: 86A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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