The following is a summary of “General Practitioners’ Perspectives on Lifestyle Interventions for Cognitive Preservation in dementia prevention,” published in the August 2024 issue of Primary Care by Kappe et al.

General practitioners (GPs) are pivotal in identifying cognitive impairment and dementia and providing care post-diagnosis. This study explored three key areas: GPs’ perceptions of the potential of lifestyle changes to maintain cognitive performance in elderly patients, their beliefs regarding the impact of modifiable health and lifestyle factors on cognitive health, and whether these beliefs differ by the GP’s age. The study was part of the AgeWell.de trial, involving 72 GPs who completed a process evaluation questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed their views on the effectiveness of various lifestyle changes in preserving cognitive performance, focusing on established risk and protective factors, which were rated using a 5-point Likert scale. 

Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the first two research questions. At the same time, Spearman’s rank correlations and ordinal logistic regressions were utilized to explore the relationship between GP age and their beliefs in lifestyle change efficacy. The findings revealed that GPs generally held a neutral stance on the overall potential of lifestyle changes to maintain cognitive performance, with a median score of 3.0. 

However, they rated the efficacy of individual modifiable health and lifestyle factors highly, particularly physical and social activity increases, which received the highest ratings. Notably, a significant positive correlation was found between GP age and the belief in optimizing nutrition to prevent cognitive decline and dementia, suggesting that older GPs may place more emphasis on dietary factors. However, ordinal logistic regressions did not show significant age-related differences in the overall ratings of lifestyle change efficacy. 

In conclusion, this study highlights GPs’ generally positive view of the effectiveness of modifiable lifestyle factors in preventing cognitive decline and dementia while suggesting that beliefs may vary slightly with age, particularly regarding nutrition. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating lifestyle interventions in managing and preventing cognitive decline in elderly patients.

Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-024-02566-3