Dr Sam Creavin

Summary

I'm trying to understand more about what tests are most useful to doctors when making diagnosis of dementia in general practice. I'm also broadly interested in the topic of diagnostic science. I have reviewed the scientific evidence to support the use of two brief cognitive tests for diagnosing dementia: the MoCA and the MMSE.

I am currently reading for a PhD to investigate which tests are most useful for making the diagnosis of dementia in general practice and I've made a brief video to outline my work. To do this I'm leading TIMeLi. We are aiming to recruit up to 300 people who have symptoms of possible dementia and have been seen by their GP. 

My MPhil investigated the association between pain and fatigue as co-occuring symptoms in the general population. During my academic foundation programme I investigated risk factors for dementia, specifically metabolic syndrome and caloric intake. I have also investigated response rates to postal surveys of GPs.

I'm also a GP.

Biography

I won a number of prizes at medical school. I completed medical training in Stoke-on-Trent before moving to Bristol for my post-graduate training. In Bristol I completed my academic foundation training and Academic Clinical Fellow (ACF) post in General Practice.

Teaching

I lead the diagnosis module for medical students in their fourth year.

Keywords

• Diagnosis
• Prognosis
• General Practice
• Epidemiology

Skills

• Dementia

Expertise

I investigate ways to support GPs to make patient-centred decisions about diagnosis and what to do next when a patient presents with cognitive symptoms that could be due to dementia.

Memberships

Organisations

Bristol Medical School (PHS)

Centres, collaborations and units

• Centre for Academic Primary Care

Recent publications

• Creavin, S, Wisniewski, S, Noel-Storr, A, Trevelyan, C, Hampton, T, Rayment, D, Thom, VM, Nash, K, Elhamoui, H, Milligan, R, Patel, AS, Tsivos, D, Wing, T, Phillips, E, Kellman, SM, Shackleton, HL, Singleton, GF, Neale, BE, Watton, ME & Cullum, S, 2018, ‘Cognitive tests to help diagnose dementia in symptomatic people in primary care and the community’. British Journal of General Practice, vol 68., pp. 149-150
• Creavin, ST, Noel-Storr, AH, Richard, E, Creavin, AL, Cullum, S, Ben-Shlomo, Y & Purdy, S, 2017, ‘Clinical judgement by primary care physicians for the diagnosis of all-cause dementia or cognitive impairment in symptomatic people’. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol 2017.
• Creavin, ST, Cullum, SJ, Haworth, J, Wye, L, Bayer, A, Fish, M, Purdy, S & Ben-Shlomo, Y, 2016, ‘Towards improving diagnosis of memory loss in general practice: TIMeLi diagnostic test accuracy study protocol’. BMC Family Practice, vol 17.
• Creavin, ST, Wisniewski, S, Noel-Storr, AH, Trevelyan, CM, Hampton, T, Rayment, D, Thom, VM, Nash, KJE, Elhamoui, H, Milligan, R, Patel, AS, Tsivos, DV, Wing, T, Phillips, E, Kellman, SM, Shackleton, HL, Singleton, GF, Neale, BE, Watton, ME & Cullum, SJ, 2016, ‘Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for the detection of dementia in clinically unevaluated people aged 65 and over in community and primary care populations’. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol 2016.
• Creavin, ST, Cullum, SJ, Haworth, J, Wye, L, Bayer, A, Fish, M, Purdy, S & Ben-Shlomo, Y, 2016, ‘Erratum to: Towards improving diagnosis of memory loss in general practice: TIMeLi diagnostic test accuracy study protocol’. BMC Family Practice, vol 17., pp. 119
• Davis, DH, Creavin, ST, Yip, JL, Noel-Storr, AH, Brayne, C & Cullum, S, 2015, ‘Montreal Cognitive Assessment for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias’. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol 10., pp. CD010775
• Creavin, S, Fish, M, Gallacher, J, Bayer, A & Ben-Shlomo, Y, 2015, ‘Clinical history for diagnosis of dementia in men: Caerphilly Prospective Study’. British Journal of General Practice, vol 65., pp. e489-99
• Creavin, AL, Creavin, ST, Brown, RD & Harrad, RA, 2014, ‘Why can't my child see 3D television?’. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, vol 75., pp. 457-460
• Davis, DH, Creavin, ST, Noel-Storr, A, Quinn, TJ, Smailagic, N, Hyde, C, Brayne, C, McShane, R & Cullum, S, 2013, ‘Neuropsychological tests for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease dementia and other dementias: a generic protocol for cross-sectional and delayed-verification studies’. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
• Creavin, ST, Gallacher, J, Bayer, A, Fish, M, Ebrahim, S & Ben-Shlomo, Y, 2012, ‘Metabolic syndrome, diabetes, poor cognition, and dementia in the Caerphilly prospective study’. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol 28., pp. 931 - 939

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system