People with dementia who see the same GP each time have lower rates of health complications and fewer emergency hospital admissions, according to a new study.
The research, led by the University of Exeter and published in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) analysed more than 9,000patient records of people diagnosed with dementia in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. The team found that people with dementia who were consistently seen by the same GP over the course of one year were given fewer medicines and were less likely to be given medicines that can cause problems like incontinence, drowsiness and falls. Those seeing the same GP over time were 35 per cent less likely to develop delirium, a state of confusion commonly experienced in dementia. Those who consistently saw the same GP were also 58 per cent less likely to experience incontinence, and almost ten per…
