TY - JOUR
T1 - What does the general public understand about prevention and treatment of dementia? A systematic review of population-based surveys
AU - Cations, Monica
AU - Radisic, Gorjana
AU - Crotty, Maria
AU - Laver, Kate E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Cations et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Objectives: To synthesise results of population surveys assessing knowledge and attitudes about prevention and treatment of dementia. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and grey literature were searched for English language entries published between 2012 and May 2017. Survey questions were grouped using an inductive approach and responses were pooled. Results: Thirty-four eligible studies and four grey literature items were identified. Surveys were conducted in Europe, the US, Eastern Asia, Israel, and Australia. Nearly half of respondents agreed that dementia is a normal and non-preventable part of ageing, but belief in the potential for prevention may be improving over time. The role of cardiovascular risk factors was poorly understood overall. Less than half of respondents reported belief in the availability of a cure for dementia. The value of seeking treatment was highly endorsed. Conclusions: Results suggest that knowledge about the potential for dementia prevention and treatment remains poor but may be improving over time. Knowledge among those living in low- and middle-income countries are largely unknown, presenting challenges for the development of National action plans consistent with World Health Organization directives.
AB - Objectives: To synthesise results of population surveys assessing knowledge and attitudes about prevention and treatment of dementia. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and grey literature were searched for English language entries published between 2012 and May 2017. Survey questions were grouped using an inductive approach and responses were pooled. Results: Thirty-four eligible studies and four grey literature items were identified. Surveys were conducted in Europe, the US, Eastern Asia, Israel, and Australia. Nearly half of respondents agreed that dementia is a normal and non-preventable part of ageing, but belief in the potential for prevention may be improving over time. The role of cardiovascular risk factors was poorly understood overall. Less than half of respondents reported belief in the availability of a cure for dementia. The value of seeking treatment was highly endorsed. Conclusions: Results suggest that knowledge about the potential for dementia prevention and treatment remains poor but may be improving over time. Knowledge among those living in low- and middle-income countries are largely unknown, presenting challenges for the development of National action plans consistent with World Health Organization directives.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045938908&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0196085
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0196085
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29672559
AN - SCOPUS:85045938908
VL - 13
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 4
M1 - e0196085
ER -