Brain and Cognition Research Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China.
Big Data Science and Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Oct 31;16(21):4231. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16214231.
Dementia is a serious public health problem. The more extensive dementia knowledge is, the more conducive it is to early prevention and treatment of dementia. However, no assessment of the general population's dementia awareness has been conducted so far in China. Thus, this study assessed the national public knowledge of dementia based on mobile internet in China. We assessed 10,562 national respondents recruited based on the most popular social networking service in China, WeChat and analyzed the data using quantitative methods. The overall correct rate of total dementia knowledge was 63.14%. Only half of the participants (50.84%) could identify risk factors accurately. The level of dementia knowledge was positively associated with high education, city residency, and experience of exposure to information on dementia. The sandwich generation (aged 20-60 years) had the highest level of dementia knowledge. Chinese people were found to have a low level of knowledge about dementia, especially those aged over 60 years, with low education and living in rural areas. Further educational programs and campaigns are needed to improve dementia knowledge, with greater focus on the older population as the target audience, emphasis on dementia risk factors as educational content, correcting misconceptions about dementia, and providing more experience of exposure to dementia.
痴呆症是一个严重的公共卫生问题。人们对痴呆症的了解越广泛，就越有利于痴呆症的早期预防和治疗。然而，目前在中国，尚未对一般人群的痴呆症认知情况进行评估。因此，本研究基于中国流行的社交媒体服务微信，通过移动互联网评估了全国公众对痴呆症的认知情况。我们评估了基于中国最受欢迎的社交网络服务微信招募的 10562 名全国受访者，并使用定量方法分析了数据。总的来说，痴呆症知识的整体正确回答率为 63.14%。只有一半的参与者（50.84%）能够准确识别出风险因素。痴呆症知识水平与受教育程度高、城市居住和接触痴呆症信息的经验呈正相关。夹心一代（20-60 岁）的痴呆症知识水平最高。中国人对痴呆症的知识水平较低，尤其是 60 岁以上人群、受教育程度较低和居住在农村地区的人群。需要开展进一步的教育项目和宣传活动，以提高痴呆症知识水平，重点是将老年人群作为目标受众，将痴呆症风险因素作为教育内容，纠正对痴呆症的误解，并提供更多接触痴呆症的机会。
