Clinical Gerontology Department, Broca Hospital, Paris, France.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2012 Jan;24(1):108-16. doi: 10.1017/S1041610211001529. Epub 2011 Aug 18.
The negative image of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in our society has a substantial impact on treating, caring for and integrating those suffering from the disease and their relatives. Little research has been conducted on social perception of AD in the community.
The aim of this study was to investigate the perception, knowledge, opinions and beliefs about AD in the French population. A cross-sectional telephone survey of 2013 randomly selected community-dwelling people aged 18 years and over was conducted. Multivariate logistic regressions were used for identifying predictors of the personal fear of developing AD, both for the global sample and for different age groups.
Sixty percent of the sample reported personal fear of developing AD. This attitude was strongly related to age, becoming predominant among the elderly. In the middle-aged group, personal fear of developing AD was highest in women with poor self-perceived health and, in particular, those who cared for someone with AD. Being a caregiver or knowing someone with the disease was also strongly associated with fear among younger adults aged 18-34.
These results serve as an incentive for developing special education and prevention programs focused on different age groups and caregivers of AD.
在我们的社会中，阿尔茨海默病（AD）的负面形象对患者及其亲属的治疗、护理和融入社会产生了重大影响。关于社区中对 AD 的社会认知，研究甚少。
本研究旨在调查法国人群对 AD 的认知、知识、意见和信念。2013 年，采用横断面电话调查方法对 2013 名年龄在 18 岁及以上的社区居民进行了随机抽样。采用多变量逻辑回归分析确定了对 AD 的个人恐惧的预测因素，包括总体样本和不同年龄组。
60%的样本报告了对 AD 的个人恐惧。这种态度与年龄密切相关，在老年人中更为普遍。在中年组中，对 AD 的个人恐惧在自我感觉健康状况较差的女性中最高，尤其是那些照顾 AD 患者的人。作为照顾者或认识患有该疾病的人，也与 18-34 岁的年轻成年人的恐惧密切相关。
这些结果为针对不同年龄组和 AD 照顾者的特殊教育和预防计划的制定提供了动力。
