Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey

Table 3 Association of diagnosis disclosure items with competence index and general attitude towards dementia care by specialities

		General practitioners				Specialists
		Association with CI		Association with general attitude cluster		Association with CI		Association with general attitude cluster
		τ	p ₁	τ	p ₂	τ	p ₁	τ	p ₂
16	Disclosing diagnosis and prognosis does more harm than good to the patient	-0.770	0.159	0.106	0.075	-0.099	0.238	0.128	0.157
17	Most patients are grateful when I address their cognitive decline	0.137	0.011	-0.219	< 0.001	0.123	0.140	-0.232	0.010
18	Patients react with shame when their cognitive deficits are addressed	-0.096	0.074	0.130	0.028	-0.102	0.220	0.196	0.029
19	I only disclose when the patient demands it	-0.232	< 0.001	0.135	0.024	-0.019	0.818	0.035	0.701
20	Patients with dementia should be informed because of their possibility to plan their lives	0.228	< 0.001	-0.149	0.015	0.180	0.038	-0.212	0.024
21	When communicating the diagnosis to the patient I never use the term dementia	-0.41	0.450	0.069	0.243	-0.228	0.005	0.198	0.024
22	When communicating the diagnosis to the patient I never use the term Alzheimer	-0.017	0.753	0.041	0.479	-0.245	0.003	0.210	0.017
23	I inform the relatives more than the patient on the course of the disease	0.113	0.041	-0.126	0.038	-0.040	0.636	0.009	0.919
24	In relation to the relatives I avoid the diagnosis and I prefer to use terms like „senility" or „perfusion problems"	-0.157	0.005	0.128	0.037	-0.188	0.028	0.183	0.046

CI = competence index; p ₁ = statistical significance of association between competence index and items; p _2, = statistical significance of association between general attitude cluster and items

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