Knowledge and attitudes about Alzheimer's disease in the lay public: influence of caregiving experience and other socio-demographic factors in an Italian sample.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite increasing attention on the knowledge of dementia among patients and family members, little is known about the general public's level of understanding about dementia. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the caregiving experience, sex and age on the knowledge of AD.
METHODS: Eleven hundred and eleven individuals were enrolled. They fulfilled a questionnaire made of 25 questions. The questionnaires were submitted in the waiting rooms of several departments of the Hospital "Spedali Civili di Brescia". The questionnaires assessed several issues, including the general knowledge about Alzheimer's disease, the management and ethical problems. The present study is focused on the analysis of 9 of the 25 questions included in the questionnaire, highlighting aspects about knowledge of symptoms, risk factors, therapies and services.
RESULTS: The percentage of correct responses was significantly greater among the caregivers. The group of old respondents gave similar answers, independently of their caregiving status. Women, caregivers or not, are the more knowledgeable group.
CONCLUSION: The entire population needs accurate information, but education programs should be specifically tailored for the different sections of the population because they may start with different levels of knowledge.