Montiel-Aponte Mariel Carolina, Bertolucci Paulo Henrique Ferreira
Postgraduate Program in Neurology and Neurosciences, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo - São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo - São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Dement Neuropsychol. 2021 Apr-Jun;15(2):248-255. doi: 10.1590/1980-57642021dn15-020013.
Relatives and caregivers receive little information and have poor knowledge about cognitive impairment and dementia.
This study aimed to identify beliefs about cognitive impairment and aging among people who are in contact with older people with and without cognitive impairment, hypothesizing that the fact of being a close relative influences or modifies these beliefs.
Seventy-eight participants were classified into two groups; group 1: relatives of patients with cognitive impairment or dementia from a behavioral neurology outpatient clinic (n=48); and group 2: relatives of patients without objective cognitive impairment from different services of a geriatric outpatient clinic (n=30). All subjects were asked to answer a questionnaire containing single choice and true/false questions about causes and risk factors for dementia.
Participants were mainly females and first-degree relatives. No statistical differences were observed for age, schooling, or follow-up time between groups. Participants recognized Alzheimer's disease as the main cause of memory loss in older adults (group 1=34 group 2=15); when asking about sources of information about cognitive impairment, the three more common answers were , , and . Group 1 got higher scores on questions about causes and risk factors for dementia, but no statistical differences were found.
Dementia literacy is low even among the people in contact with this syndrome; caring for someone with dementia changes the concepts about memory and aging but only in a small proportion. Educational strategies to deal with misinformation can help to control risk factors and reduce the incidence of dementia.
亲属和照料者对认知障碍和痴呆症了解甚少，知识匮乏。
本研究旨在确定与有认知障碍和无认知障碍的老年人有接触的人群对认知障碍和衰老的看法，假设作为近亲这一事实会影响或改变这些看法。
78名参与者被分为两组；第1组：来自行为神经科门诊的认知障碍或痴呆症患者的亲属（n = 48）；第2组：来自老年门诊不同科室的无客观认知障碍患者的亲属（n = 30）。所有受试者都被要求回答一份问卷，问卷包含关于痴呆症病因和风险因素的单项选择题和是非题。
参与者主要为女性和一级亲属。两组在年龄、受教育程度或随访时间方面未观察到统计学差异。参与者认为阿尔茨海默病是老年人记忆力丧失的主要原因（第1组 = 34人，第2组 = 15人）；当被问及认知障碍的信息来源时，三个最常见的答案是……、……和……。第1组在关于痴呆症病因和风险因素的问题上得分较高，但未发现统计学差异。
即使在与这种综合征有接触的人群中，痴呆症知识水平也较低；照顾痴呆症患者会改变对记忆和衰老的观念，但只是在小部分人当中。应对错误信息的教育策略有助于控制风险因素并降低痴呆症的发病率。
