Dementia is (not) a natural part of ageing: a cross-sectional study on dementia knowledge and misconceptions in Swiss and Italian young adults, adults, and older adults

Abstract

Background Increasing public awareness and understanding of dementia is the second key action area of the 2017 WHO Global action plan on a public health response to dementia. To achieve this aim, the first indispensable step is to understand the average level of dementia knowledge and to identify areas of low dementia knowledge. We aimed to quantify dementia knowledge in the general population, and to explore the extent to which it differs by age, sex, education, and indirect experience with dementia. Methods We conducted an online cross-sectional survey in two Italian-speaking sites, south Switzerland (Ticino) and northern Italy (Piedmont). The survey was distributed between September and December 2019. We registered socio-demographic characteristics including whether the participant had contact with a person living with dementia, and measured dementia knowledge with the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Survey (DKAS). Results Misconceptions about dementia were common among respondents, and lack of knowledge has been identified in dementia causes, characteristics, risk factors, and health promotion. Our results point out the lack of knowledge about how to communicate and relate with, and take care of a person living with dementia. The overall DKAS score was significantly and positively associated with female sex (β = 0.21; p < 0.001), educational level (β = 0.15; p < 0.001) and contact with a person living with dementia (β = 0.17; p < 0.001), but not with age (β = -0.01; p = 0.57). Conclusion Our results confirmed that general population’s knowledge of dementia is thin. Interventional studies that rely on participatory action research methods are warranted to co-design interventions aimed at improving dementia knowledge and understanding in the public.

Knowledge levels and sociodemographic influences on dementia awareness in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

“…Additionally, we found that people with higher education, particularly those who attained a postgraduate degree (β=2.42, p=0.012), had a higher level of knowledge of dementia. This observation aligns with previous studies investigating the public knowledge of dementia [6,8,[52][53][54]. Socioeconomic factors strongly predict health results, as shown many times in the scientific literature [55].…”

“…DKAS score at the 60th percentile (i.e., a score of 30) was chosen to correspond to sufficient knowledge about dementia. The literature has utilized similar procedures to identify cutoff scores [8,26]. Table 2 shows the mean and SD for each DKAS item.…”

“…Knowledge and awareness of dementia are essential across all age groups, not just older persons at a higher risk of developing the disease. However, few data are available to compare how well people in different sociodemographic categories understand dementia [8].…”

Dementia literacy among nursing students in China: A multi-site cross-sectional study

“…In addition, interest in dementia care was signi cant predictors of dementia knowledge scores. This result was similar to the ndings of Dong et al(4) and Paci co et al (33). Although nursing students are lack of knowledge and have little clinical practice, fortunately, most of them are interested in dementia care and would like to have more opportunities for dementia education as well as training in professional skills.…”

Protocol for the Next Generation brain health survey: an international survey of attitudes, understanding and exposure to brain health risk factors in young adults

“…This rapidly expanding eld recognizes brain health as more than just the absence of disease, and emphasizes the need to enhance protective factors across the life course (11,12). A handful of studies to date have investigated knowledge and attitudes towards brain health in individuals as young as 18 (10,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). However, no brain health studies have been designed to speci cally target young adults, nor has any study been implemented with their unique interests and needs in mind.…”