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Cognitive Screening Instruments pp 231–239Cite as

The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG)

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Abstract

The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG) is a very brief cognitive test specifically designed for use in primary care. It is available free of charge as paper-and-pencil test or web-based interactive instrument via the GPCOG website (www.gpcog.com.au). Unlike other brief screening or case-finding instruments, the GPCOG consists of a four-component patient assessment and a brief informant interview (six questions). Total administration time is less than 5 min. The diagnostic performance of the GPCOG was validated against DSM-IV-defined dementia diagnosis. In comparison to other widely-used cognitive screens such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) the GPCOG performed at least as well as, if not better, than the MMSE and the AMT. The sensitivity and specificity for the English GPCOG ranges from 0.81 to 0.98 and 0.72 to 0.95, respectively. Validated translations of the instrument are published and available online (www.gpcog.com.au). The informant interview, in particular has been found to be free of demographic biases. In conclusion, the GPCOG has been increasingly recommended by national and international guidelines as a first line cognitive assessment tool in primary care based on its sound psychometric properties and time efficiency.

Keywords

  • General practitioner
  • Primary care
  • Brief screening
  • Cognitive impairment
  • Clock drawing
  • Informant

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dementia Collaborative Research Centre – Assessment and Better Care, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Katrin M. Seeher & Henry Brodaty

  2. Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Katrin M. Seeher & Henry Brodaty

Authors
  1. Katrin M. Seeher
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  2. Henry Brodaty
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Correspondence to Henry Brodaty .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Function Clinic, Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool, UK

    A. J. Larner

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Seeher, K.M., Brodaty, H. (2017). The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG). In: Larner, A.J. (eds) Cognitive Screening Instruments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44775-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44775-9_10

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