Dementia Screening and Test Psychology in German General and Specialist Practices under Conditions of the Corona Pandemic

Abstract

To analyse changes in frequencies of test psychology examinations (TPE) relevant to detect change in dementia diagnosis in general (GP) and neuropsychiatric (NP) practices during the Covid 19 pandemic. Cross-sectional study analysis comparing the number of patients aged ≥ 70 with at least one TPE in 908 GP and 107 NP-practices in 2018-2019 (prepandemic) and 2020-2021 (pandemic) using descriptive statisics and correlations. While there was a large decrease in TPE between 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 (- 18.4%) conducted in NP-practices, it remained stable in GP-practices (+ 2.6%). In both GP and NP, there was a strong correlation between the number of patients tested and newly diagnosed with dementia. TPE in performing in GP practices appears less susceptible to a pandemic-related decline in the provision compared to NP practices. Further research is needed to reveal the reasons for these differences.