[Different disciplines, different diagnoses?--A survey among participants of a consensus conference on dementia]

It is hardly known to what extent consensus criteria for dementia are adhered to in clinical practice. An inquiry was held among the participants of the Dutch consensus meeting on dementia to investigate this point. 85 clinicians diagnosed the case descriptions of 10 patients with cognitive dysfunctions. The inquiry was split into two parts, i.e. before and after the meeting. There was no difference between the two parts in the level of consensus. There was not difference between the disciplines in syndrome diagnoses. However, with regard to etiology, significant differences existed between the specialties. Furthermore, the agreement increased with the severity of the cognitive disturbances. In cases where depressive symptoms coexisted, the diagnosis was more often in error. The nature of the diagnoses appeared to be dependent on the discipline of the diagnostician. This study underlines the necessity of a multidisciplinary diagnostic approach based on well accepted criteria.