Pacifico D, Fiordelli M, Fadda M, Serena S, Piumatti G, Carlevaro F, Magno F, Franscella G, Albanese E. 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.
BMC Public Health 2022;
22:2176. [PMID:
36434540 PMCID:
PMC9701025 DOI:
10.1186/s12889-022-14578-8]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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.
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