Dementia Worry and the Perception of Personal Risk

Martin, Kristina; Lang, Frieder R.; Rupprecht, R.; Nömer, Jessica

doi:10.1024/1662-9647/a000247

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Fear of aging-related diseases was assessed by asking participants whether they were afraid of dementia/cancer/stroke/heart attack/serious lung disease in relation to themselves (DAK-Gesundheit 2020 ; Martin et al 2021 ). The five diseases were chosen as all of them are aging-related, i.e., their prevalence clearly increases with age and the diseases particularly affect the quality of life among old and very old adults (e.g., Cho and Stout-Delgado 2020 ; GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators 2020 ; White et al 2014 ).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

2021

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Fears regarding various aspects tend to stimulate individuals to escape or to avoid the sources of the threat. We concluded that fears associated with the future aging process, like the fear of aging-related diseases, the fear of loneliness in old age, and the fear of death, would stimulate patterns of avoidance when it comes to ideal life expectancy. We expected fear of aging-related diseases and fear of loneliness in old age to be related to lower ideal life expectancies. We expected fear of death to be related to higher ideal life expectancies. In two adult lifespan samples [N1 = 1065 and N2 = 591; ages ranging from 18 to 95 years, M (SD)1 = 58.1 (17.2) years, M (SD)2 = 52.6 (18.1) years], we were able to support our hypothesis regarding fear of death. We furthermore found significant interactions among the fears, indicating that individuals fearing diseases or loneliness but being unafraid of death opted for the shortest lives. Our results indicate that fears regarding life in very old age might be associated with the wish to avoid this age period; the fear of death was however associated with the wish for particularly long lives, and thus, with distancing oneself from the dreaded event of death. We conclude that fears seem to be associated with how individuals approach old age and with what they wish for in their own future as aged people.

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Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

2021

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“…Our study found that older Chinese Americans' dementia worry in 2017 did not significantly differ from those in 2013 (p = 0.054). One explanation could be One recent study (Martin et al, 2020) using a sample of European adults aged 21 or above found that dementia worry did not change significantly from M = 10.5 (SD = 5.0) to M = 10.0 (4.7) within 2 years. Martin et al, 2020) assertation that dementia worry may reflect a stable personality trait, like someone being generally anxious about certain things in life is plausible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Studies that examine change of dementia worry over time are few. One recent study using an online sample of adults (n = 129) from Europe did not find a significant amount of change in dementia worry within 2 years (Martin et al, 2020). MetLife Foundation (2011) conducted two national surveys that asked over 1,000 American adults to rank Alzheimer's disease in comparison with other diseases (e.g.…”

Section: Dementia Worrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dementia literacy and worry among older Chinese Americans in Arizona: a comparison between 2013 and 2017

Sun

Wang

Shen

et al. 2021

Int. Psychogeriatr.

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Objectives: This study examined the change in dementia literacy and dementia worry over a 5-year span among older Chinese Americans living in Arizona. Design, setting, participants, and measurement: This study used survey data collected among a purposive sample of 703 community-dwelling Chinese Americans aged 55 years or older living in the metropolitan areas of Phoenix, Arizona, from 2013 to 2017. The average age of participants was 73.1 (SD = 8.7) and 64.2% were female. Dementia literacy was measured by dementia knowledge (knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia) and dementia beliefs (biased attitude toward dementia). Dementia worry was measured by assessing participants’ fear toward and concerns of developing dementia. Results: Regression analyses found dementia knowledge decreased (p < 0.05) and dementia beliefs remained unchanged (p > 0.05) from 2013 to 2017 among participants. Dementia worry only increased among those who lived alone. Significant correlates of dementia worry included low formal education level, depressive symptoms, and family conflict. Conclusions: Public health education targeting older Chinese Americans should aim to enhance dementia knowledge and to rectify their biased attitudes toward dementia. Psychosocial education or counseling should be available to older Chinese Americans who present dementia worry, particularly for those who live alone. More studies using diverse study designs, such as a longitudinal design, are needed to examine change in dementia literacy and worry among this population.

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“…The findings suggest that increasing the public's awareness of their risk of developing dementia may be a suitable strategy for improving dementia knowledge. Recent research supports this hypothesis by suggesting risk perception is a more malleable construct to change than dementia worry (Martin et al, 2020). Campaigns that target risk may encourage increased information seeking and retention.…”

Section: Future Directions For Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 98%

Risk, worry and motivation: How is public knowledge of dementia shaped?

et al. 2021

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Background and Objectives Due to the concern over global rising rates of dementia, increased emphasis has been placed on understanding and moulding the public’s knowledge and awareness of the condition. There has been limited previous research into predictors of dementia knowledge; overall knowledge amongst the public is low, and it has been widely agreed that more needs to be done to raise awareness of this condition. This study seeks to solidify understanding of public dementia knowledge and introduces dementia worry, motivation to seek information and risk perception as novel concomitants of this knowledge. Research Design and Methods A convenience sample of 311 UK adults completed a survey on dementia knowledge including Alzheimer’s disease-specific questions, worry about developing dementia, motivation to seek information and perceived personal risk of getting the disease. Surveys were completed face-to-face and included both closed and open-ended questions. Results Overall dementia knowledge scores were low, achieving an average of 33% of the total possible score, with 88% of the sample scoring below 50%. Bivariate correlations were performed between dementia knowledge and key variables, revealing significant positive relationships with risk perception ( r = 0.179, p = .002), worry ( r = 0.140, p = .016) and motivation to seek information ( r = 0.139, p = .016). When knowledge was dichotomised into high and low, worry about ( p = .28) and perceived risk ( p = .19) of dementia was significantly lower for people with low knowledge scores than for people with higher dementia knowledge scores. Motivation to seek information was not significantly different between the high and low knowledge groups ( p = .071). Discussion and Implications Despite the relatively low knowledge scores, findings show a positive relationship between modifiable factors and dementia knowledge, suggesting areas to consider for both further research and publication campaigns. Further implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

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Dementia Worry and the Perception of Personal Risk

Cited by 12 publications

References 25 publications

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

Dementia literacy and worry among older Chinese Americans in Arizona: a comparison between 2013 and 2017

Risk, worry and motivation: How is public knowledge of dementia shaped?

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