This article has been independently produced by AusDoc, made possible through sponsorship from Dementia Australia

Recognising the early signs of dementia can be challenging in a primary care setting due to time constraints that may hamper diagnostic provision, along with a diversity of presenting symptoms and a range of aetiologies and differential diagnoses.

Professor Sue Kurrle, a geriatrician specialising in dementia and co-author of the current clinical practice guidelines for dementia, says patient denial of cognitive changes can further complicate the picture.

Yet despite these barriers, she says striving for an early diagnosis is important, which a GP can effectively do with the right probing, investigations, and cognitive testing.