Is there a referral bias in the diagnoses of patients of a memory clinic?

Abstract

In a recent study addressing the contribution of neuropsychology and neuroradiology to the improvement of the dementia diagnoses of a memory clinic more than 45% of the patients (45 out of 101) did not meet the criteria for dementia. This finding was unexpected because all patients had been referred for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of dementia. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the proportion of non-demented patients varies with the "modus of referral". This was not found to be true. The frequency of the diagnosis "no dementia" was not significantly different for the two patient groups "general practitioner" vs. "neuropsychiatrist" referred patients (p = 0.859). In conclusion, there is no difference between the two groups of physicians in the reliability judging whether a "cognitive complainer" needs to be referred to a specialized memory clinic.