Christopher Elsey1, Paul Drew2, Danielle Jones3, Daniel Blackburn4, Sarah Wakefield5, Kirsty Harkness6, Annalena Venneri7, Markus Reuber8. 1. Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK. Electronic address: C.Elsey@lboro.ac.uk. 2. Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK. 3. School of Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK. 4. Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. 5. Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. 6. Department of Neurology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK. 7. Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; IRCCS Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo, Venice, Italy. 8. Academic Neurology Unit, University of Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic conversations with a doctor can contribute to the clinical differentiation between functional memory disorders (FMD) and memory problems related to neurodegenerative diseases. METHODS: Conversation Analysis of video recordings of neurologists' interactions with patients attending a specialist memory clinic. "Gold standard" diagnoses were made independently of CA findings by a multi-disciplinary team based on clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging. RESULTS: Two discrete conversational profiles for patients with memory complaints emerged, including (i) who attends the clinic (i.e., whether or not patients are accompanied), and (ii) patients' responses to neurologists' questions about memory problems, such as difficulties with compound questions and providing specific and elaborated examples and frequent "I don't know" responses. CONCLUSION: Specific communicative difficulties are characteristic of the interaction patterns of patients with a neurodegenerative pathology. Those difficulties are manifest in memory clinic interactions with neurologists, thereby helping to differentiate patients with dementia from those with FMD. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Our findings demonstrate that conversational profiles based on patients' contributions to memory clinic encounters have diagnostic potential to assist the screening and referral process from primary care, and the diagnostic service in secondary care.
OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic conversations with a doctor can contribute to the clinical differentiation between functional memory disorders (FMD) and memory problems related to neurodegenerative diseases. METHODS: Conversation Analysis of video recordings of neurologists' interactions with patients attending a specialist memory clinic. "Gold standard" diagnoses were made independently of CA findings by a multi-disciplinary team based on clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging. RESULTS: Two discrete conversational profiles for patients with memory complaints emerged, including (i) who attends the clinic (i.e., whether or not patients are accompanied), and (ii) patients' responses to neurologists' questions about memory problems, such as difficulties with compound questions and providing specific and elaborated examples and frequent "I don't know" responses. CONCLUSION: Specific communicative difficulties are characteristic of the interaction patterns of patients with a neurodegenerative pathology. Those difficulties are manifest in memory clinic interactions with neurologists, thereby helping to differentiate patients with dementia from those with FMD. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Our findings demonstrate that conversational profiles based on patients' contributions to memory clinic encounters have diagnostic potential to assist the screening and referral process from primary care, and the diagnostic service in secondary care.
Authors: Sabah Al-Hameed; Mohammed Benaissa; Heidi Christensen; Bahman Mirheidari; Daniel Blackburn; Markus Reuber Journal: PLoS One Date: 2019-05-24 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Harriet A Ball; Laura McWhirter; Clive Ballard; Rohan Bhome; Daniel J Blackburn; Mark J Edwards; Stephen M Fleming; Nick C Fox; Robert Howard; Jonathan Huntley; Jeremy D Isaacs; Andrew J Larner; Timothy R Nicholson; Catherine M Pennington; Norman Poole; Gary Price; Jason P Price; Markus Reuber; Craig Ritchie; Martin N Rossor; Jonathan M Schott; Tiago Teodoro; Annalena Venneri; Jon Stone; Alan J Carson Journal: Brain Date: 2020-10-01 Impact factor: 13.501