Christian Camargo, MD

As the number of people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important to recognize these conditions. An accurate and early diagnosis permits clinicians to implement steps towards prevention and intervention. While there are certain clinicians with specific expertise on the matter, such as neurologists, primary care physicians and general practitioners are more likely to be the first clinical encounter for patients bearing cognitive concerns. Educating these practitioners in clinical competency relating to cognitive disorders is therefore increasingly important. However, which methods work the best for the physicians? And, what impact do these methods have?

Xu’s research looked at various clinical trials that assessed several different outcomes of physician education programs. She found that the programs ranged in the manner of delivery, from e-learning to traditional. In general, these studies demonstrated several improvements as a consequence of educational programs — from improvements in diagnostic accuracy to changing physician attitudes towards dementia. In fact, the studies found that these programs increased the number of cognitive impairment diagnoses and specialist referrals.

The findings of this review may implicate an expanded role for physician educational programs in the management of cognitive illness. Additional prospective studies would be necessary to confirm the findings of this review, and if they generalize to different practice environments. Whether or not these programs directly affect patient outcomes remains an important question, as well.