Attitudes toward Alzheimer’s disease: a qualitative study of the role played by social representation on a convenient sample of French general practitioners

Background and aims: It is commonly thought that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is under-diagnosed and that insufficient numbers of patients are receiving pharmacological treatment. These observations are often attributed to poor management of the disease by general practitioners (GPs) related to their la...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Aging clinical and experimental research Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 384 - 390
Main Authors:	Lahjibi-Paulet, Hayat, Dauffy, Agnès, Minard, Aurélien, Gaxatte, Cédric, Saint-Jean, Olivier, Somme, Dominique
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cham Springer International Publishing 01-08-2012 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Adult Aged Aging Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis Alzheimer Disease - therapy Attitude of Health Personnel Attitudes Dementia Family physicians Female General Practitioners - psychology Geriatrics/Gerontology Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans Hypotheses Interviews Male Medicine Medicine & Public Health Middle Aged Original Article Paris Perception Physicians Population Qualitative Research Studies Teaching Paris Alzheimer’s disease attitude of health personnel general practitioners sociology
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Summary:	Background and aims: It is commonly thought that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is under-diagnosed and that insufficient numbers of patients are receiving pharmacological treatment. These observations are often attributed to poor management of the disease by general practitioners (GPs) related to their lack of training in identifying cognitive decline. Our hypothesis is that there may be a relation between GPs’ perceptions and their attitudes toward AD. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study, through semi-directive interviews focusing on their representations, of 25 GPs, masters in training courses, in Paris. Results: Analysis of interviews revealed five general trends. AD is seen by GPs as a “disease of autonomy”, without specific medical treatment. Cognitive symptoms are less meaningful in GPs’ view than the loss of autonomy. The main thing is to keep the patient at home. For GPs, the family is described as an essential partner in coping with the insufficiencies of available social programs. The use of specialists is less to confirm the diagnosis than to announce the “bad news”. GPs declare scepticism as to the efficacy of AD medications, only granting them a certain “care” effect or a social role. The image of AD remains highly negative. The stigma of AD is seen as a barrier to its diagnosis. Conclusions: This study is somewhat preliminary because of sample size. Nevertheless, the social representations of the disease influence GPs’ attitudes toward making diagnoses in France. Priority seems to focus more on assisting GPs and families at the social level, rather than diagnosis or access to treatment.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1594-0667 1720-8319
DOI:	10.1007/BF03325270