Unitat Trastorns Cognitius, Clinical Neuroscience Research, IRBLleida-Hospital Universitari Santa Maria Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
Department of Experimental Medicine, Clinical Neuroscience Research, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain.
Neurologia (Engl Ed). 2021 Jul-Aug;36(6):426-432. doi: 10.1016/j.nrleng.2018.03.004. Epub 2020 Feb 20.
Understanding of Alzheimer disease (AD) is fundamental for early diagnosis and to reduce caregiver burden. The objective of this study is to evaluate the degree of understanding of AD among informal caregivers and different segments of the general population through the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS).
We assessed the knowledge of caregivers in different follow-up periods (less than one year, between 1 and 5 years, and over 5 years since diagnosis) and individuals from the general population. ADKS scores were grouped into different items: life impact, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, disease progression, and caregiving.
A total of 419 people (215 caregivers and 204 individuals from the general population) were included in the study. No significant differences were found between groups for overall ADKS score (19.1 vs 18.8, P = .9). There is a scarce knowledge of disease risk factors (49.3%) or the care needed (51.2%), while symptoms (78.6%) and course of the disease (77.2%) were the best understood aspects. Older caregiver age was correlated with worse ADKS scores overall and for life impact, symptoms, treatment, and disease progression (P < .05). Time since diagnosis improved caregivers' knowledge of AD symptoms (P = .00) and diagnosis (P = .05).
Assessing the degree of understanding of AD is essential to the development of health education strategies both in the general population and among caregivers.
了解阿尔茨海默病（AD）对于早期诊断和减轻照顾者负担至关重要。本研究的目的是通过阿尔茨海默病知识量表（ADKS）评估非专业照顾者和一般人群中不同群体对 AD 的理解程度。
我们评估了处于不同随访期（少于 1 年、1 至 5 年和诊断后超过 5 年）的照顾者以及一般人群个体的知识。ADKS 评分分为不同项目：生活影响、危险因素、症状、诊断、治疗、疾病进展和护理。
共有 419 人（215 名照顾者和 204 名一般人群个体）纳入研究。总体 ADKS 评分（19.1 与 18.8，P=0.9）在组间无显著差异。对疾病危险因素（49.3%）或所需护理（51.2%）的了解较少，而对症状（78.6%）和疾病进程（77.2%）的了解较好。照顾者年龄较大与 ADKS 评分总体以及对生活影响、症状、治疗和疾病进展的评分较差相关（P<0.05）。自诊断以来，照顾者对 AD 症状（P=0.00）和诊断（P=0.05）的了解有所改善。
评估对 AD 的理解程度对于在一般人群和照顾者中制定健康教育策略至关重要。
