340 Dementia knowledge and attitudes among undergraduate medical students- a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background With our ageing population, medical students should expect to encounter and treat growing numbers of patients with dementia throughout their careers. This must be reflected during their preclinical and clinical training. This study aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes towards patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (ad) and dementia among undergraduate medical students in Ireland. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out of medical students undergoing hospital-based clinical attachments using the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS). These were distributed electronically. The ADKS is a 30-point true/false questionnaire covering 7 areas of knowledge of ad. The DAS is a 20-item scale using a 7-point Likert scale assessing attitudes towards patients with dementia across two domains: ‘dementia knowledge’ and ‘social comfort’. Demographics were collected including age, gender, academic year, student type (undergraduate or postgraduate) and desired field of future study. Data was collected and analysed via Qualtrics. Results The survey was distributed to 415 students, with a 21.7% respondent rate (n = 90). 64.7% (n = 54) were female, mean age of 23.3 years. 68.6% of students were in their first phase of clinical attachment (n = 59), undergraduate students represented 95.4% of respondents (n = 82). Mean percentage of correct answers on the ADKS was 83.7%. The domain with the highest correct scores was ‘Assessment and Diagnosis’ at 93.6%. The mean score on the DAS was 7.4% (108.4/140); when analysed by subgroup, mean score on ‘comfort’ was 68.1% (47.7/70) and mean score on ‘knowledge’ was 88.2% (61.7/70). Conclusion Participating medical students demonstrated high levels of ad knowledge and high positive attitudes scores towards patients with dementia. Scores were higher for ‘knowledge’ than ‘comfort’. Limitations included volunteer bias and social-desirability bias. This study identifies areas of deficits in students’ experience and attitudes and provides useful insights to inform training requirements for medical students to ensure they are adequately trained for these major demographic changes.