Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:35:54.438Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public knowledge about dementia in South Korea: a community-based cross-sectional survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2014

Hyun-Ju Seo ,
Dong Young Lee  and
Mi Ra Sung
Hyun-Ju Seo
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea
Dong Young Lee*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, and Seoul Metropolitan Center for Dementia (SMCD), Seoul, South Korea
Mi Ra Sung
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, Yong-in Songdam College, Yongin, South Korea
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Dong Young Lee (MD, PhD), Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, South Korea. Phone: +82-2-2072-2205; Fax: +82-2-744-7241. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

The highest increase in the prevalence of dementia in the elderly population is expected in South Korea than in any other country in the world. However, there is no assessment of the community-based general populations’ understanding of dementia in South Korea, in spite of the increasing burden of dementia. Thus, this study assessed the public knowledge about dementia.

Methods:

This is a population-based, cross-sectional study of 2,189 participants, aged 10 years or older, and living in Seoul, South Korea. A 12-item questionnaire with true/false responses was used to assess the knowledge about dementia from June to November 2011. The data obtained were analyzed using quantitative methods.

Results:

The mean score for the knowledge about dementia was 9.0 ± 2.1 points out of 12 points. More than half of the respondents (52.7%) reported that dementia is not treatable, and one-third of the participants did not know that Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. The level of dementia knowledge was negatively associated with increasing age, and positively associated with higher education level.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that although laypersons had a fair knowledge about dementia, further educational programs and campaigns are needed to improve knowledge about dementia, more focusing on elderly adults as the target audience and emphasizing the causes and treatments of dementia as educational contents.

Keywords

dementiaknowledgepublic
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , March 2015 , pp. 463 - 469
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arai, Y., Arai, A. and Zarit, S. H. (2008). What do we know about dementia?: a survey on knowledge about dementia in the general public of Japan. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 433–438. doi:10.1002/gps.1977.Google Scholar
Ayalon, L. and Arean, P. A. (2004). Knowledge of Alzheimer's disease in four ethnic groups of older adults. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 19, 51–57.Google Scholar
Banerjee, S. and Wittenberg, R. (2009). Clinical and cost-effectiveness of services for early diagnosis and intervention in dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 748–754. doi:10.1002/gps.2191.Google Scholar
Boustani, M. A., Justiss, M. D., Frame, A., Austrom, M. G., Perkins, A. J., Cai, X. (2011). Caregiver and noncaregiver attitudes toward dementia screening. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59, 681–686. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03327.x.Google Scholar
Brookmeyer, R., Gray, S. and Kawas, C. (1998). Projections of Alzheimer's disease in the United States and the public health impact of delaying disease onset. American Journal of Public Health, 88, 1337–1342.Google Scholar
Carpenter, B. D., Balsis, S., Otilingam, P. G., Hanson, P. K. and Gatz, M. (2009). The Alzheimer’ s Disease Knowledge Scale : development and psychometric properties. The Gerontologist, 49, 236–247.Google Scholar
Cho, M. J. (2008). Nationwide Study on the Prevalence of Dementia in Korean elders. Seoul, South Korea: Seoul National University Hospital. Available at: http://www.bokjiro.go.kr/data/bookView.do?board_sid=295&data_sid=197972; last accessed 31 July 2014.Google Scholar
Choi, W. S. (2005). Female volunteers' activities in public service and their perception about dementia. Journal of the Korean Geronotological society, 25, 91–110.Google Scholar
Fujishiro, H., Umegaki, H., Suzuki, Y., Nakamura, A., Hirakawa, Y. and Iquchi, A. (2005). Awareness of dementia in older adults attending dementia-prevention programs in community healthcare centers. Japanese Journal of Geriatrics, 42, 340–345.Google Scholar
Han, D. H. (1994). A study of the elderly attitude toward senile dementia. Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society, 14, 69–83.Google Scholar
Ho, E. Y. and Woo, B. K. (2013). Dementia knowledge and information seeking of Chinese Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 61, 647–648. doi:10.1111/jgs.12194.Google Scholar
Hurt, C. S., Burns, A., Brown, R. G. and Barrowclough, C. (2012). Why don't older adults with subjective memory complaints seek help? International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 27, 394–400.Google Scholar
Kim, N. C. (1999). A study on the knowledge and attitude about senile dementia of the elderly. Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing, 13, 1–11.Google Scholar
Kim, K. A., Kim, K. A. and Sung, M. R. (2011). A study on the level of dementia-related knowledge and attitude among care workers. Korean Journal of Care Management, 6, 23–51.Google Scholar
Lee, S. E., Lee, H. Y. and Diwan, S. (2010). What do Korean-American immigrants know about Alzheimer's disease (AD)? The impact of acculturation and exposure to the disease on AD knowledge. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25, 66–73. doi:10.1002/gps.2299.Google Scholar
Lee, Y. K., Sung, M. R. and Lee, D. Y. (2011). Comorbidity and health habits of Seoul city elders with dementia. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing, 41, 411–422. doi:10.4040/jkan.2011.41.3.411.Google Scholar
Li, X., Fang, W., Su, N., Liu, Y., Xiao, S. and Xiao, Z. (2011). Survey in Shanghai communities: the public awareness of and attitude towards dementia. Psychogeriatrics, 11, 83–89. doi:10.1111/j.1479-8301.2010.00349.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Connor, M. L. and McFadden, S. H. (2010). Development and psychometric validation of the Dementia Attitudes Scale. International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2010, 454218. doi:10.4061/2010/454218.Google Scholar
Park, J. H., Eum, J. H., Bold, B. and Cheong, H. K. (2013). Burden of disease due to dementia in the elderly population of Korea: present and future. BMC Public Health, 13, 293. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-293.Google Scholar
Prince, M. J., Acosta, D., Castro-Costa, E., Jackson, J. and Shaji, K. S. (2009). Packages of care for dementia in low- and middle-income countries. PLoS Medicine, 6. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Regional Public Health Act. (2010). Available at: http://elaw.klri.re.kr/kor_service/lawView.do?hseq=7374&lang=ENG; last accessed 20 July 2014.Google Scholar
Saad, K. (2012). Dementia awareness starts in school. Nursing Times, 108, 29.Google ScholarPubMed
Sahin, H. A., Gurvit, I. H., Emre, M., Hanagasi, H. A., Bilqic, B. and Harmanci, H. (2006). The attitude of elderly lay people towards the symptoms of dementia. International Psychogeriatrics, 18, 251–258.Google Scholar
Spector, A., Orrell, M., Schepers, A. and Shanahan, N. (2012). A systematic review of “knowledge of dementia” outcome measures. Ageing Research Reviews, 11, 67–77. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2011.09.002.Google Scholar
Statistics Korea. (2012). Statistics on the Aged. Available at: http://kostat.go.kr/portal/english/news/1/23/1/index.board; last accessed 24 March 2013.Google Scholar
Tan, W. J., Hong, S. I., Luo, N., Lo, T. J. and Yap, P. (2012). The lay public's understanding and perception of dementia in a developed Asian nation. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra, 2, 433–444. doi:10.1159/000343079.Google Scholar
Teel, C. S. (2004). Rural practitioners’ experiences in dementia diagnosis and treatment. Aging Mental Health, 8, 422–429.Google Scholar
Werner, P. (2003). Knowledge about symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: correlates and relationship to help-seeking behavior. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18, 1029–1036.Google Scholar
Woo, B. K. (2013). Knowledge of dementia among Chinese American immigrants. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 6, 351–352. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2013.03.010.Google Scholar
Yong, M. H., Kim, E. J. and Yang, Y. A. (2010). A study on the knowledge of families with demented elderly persons for dementia. Journal of Occupational Therapy for the Aged and Dementia, 2, 41–50.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Seo Supplementary Material

Table S1

Download Seo Supplementary Material(File)
File 43.5 KB