Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42823108›Full record

ArticleFamily medicine and community health2026

Primary care determinants for timely diagnosis of dementia.

Hannah Gulline, Sarah Carmody, Amelia Bevins, Mark Yates, Stephanie Daly, Dimity Pond, Stephanie Perin, Amy Brodtmann, Samantha Loi, Yen Ying Lim and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Family medicine and community health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Hannah GullineSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-1851-0989
Sarah CarmodySchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Amelia BevinsSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Mark YatesBallarat Clinical School, Deakin University, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Stephanie DalyDementia Training Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Dimity PondWicking Dementia Research and Training Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Stephanie PerinAged Persons Mental Health Service, St Vincent's Hospital Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Amy BrodtmannDepartment of Neuroscience, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Samantha LoiNeuropsychiatry Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Yen Ying LimTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Heather MacklinLived Experience Expert, Regional Victoria, Victoria, Australia.
Kevyn MorrisLived Experience Expert, Regional Victoria, Victoria, Australia.
Scott AytonFlorey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia darshini.ayton@monash.edu scott.ayton@florey.edu.au.
Darshini AytonSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia darshini.ayton@monash.edu scott.ayton@florey.edu.au.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo identify actions of primary care physicians (PCPs) that influence referral to specialist assessment for dementia from the perspective of people with symptoms of dementia and/or their significant others.

designA descriptive qualitative design was used, involving 33 semistructured interviews that explored presenting symptoms, consultations with health professionals, tests undertaken and challenges encountered while navigating the prediagnostic phase of dementia. Interview data were mapped deductively to the Candidacy Framework to examine engagement with PCPs and to identify participant-perceived actions that facilitated or impeded timely diagnosis.

settingOnline interviews were conducted between August 2022 and June 2023 with participants across Australia.

participantsParticipants were 37 people who had navigated the dementia diagnosis process as a patient or significant other (partner/spouse, adult child, sibling or friend).

resultSuccessfully communicating concerns and asserting candidacy was described by participants as determining the diagnosis trajectory. Participants reflected that PCPs assessed available information to determine the need for specialist referral. Participants detailed that following PCP referral and support provision, diagnosis proceeded to a specialist. We also identified participant-reported system-level and PCP-related barriers to facilitating a timely diagnosis, including PCP time-constraints and workload-constraints, dementia-specific knowledge and referral pathway inconsistency. From participants' perspectives, access to a specialist referral and timely diagnosis was facilitated or impeded by an interplay of actions by people experiencing symptoms, significant others, and PCPs.

conclusionsPrimary care barriers and enablers to timely diagnosis spanned across patient, significant other, PCP and system levels. Recommendations to provide timely, accurate and equitable dementia diagnoses include (1) Raise community awareness of dementia symptoms, helping people communicate their concerns effectively with their PCP; (2) Enhance PCP knowledge of dementia to improve their ability to refer and diagnose and (3) Develop clear diagnostic pathways to ensure that individuals receive the appropriate diagnosis and care they need.

Indexed as

DementiaPhysicians, Primary CarePrimary Health CareReferral and ConsultationAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaFemaleHumansInterviews as TopicMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchAgingCognitive ImpairmentsPhysicians, Primary CarePrimary Health Care

Identifiers

PMID42823108
PMCPMC13636323

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.