People's knowledge about dementia

Abstract

Cognitive impairment is one of the most urgent problems due to the high prevalence and disability. Timely identification and early diagnosis of dementia are the most important for successful management of patients that may be possible only if patients refer for medical care. In this connection, people's knowledge about dementia is of great importance. To study people's knowledge about problems of dementia. The survey was carried out in September 2014 in 42 regions of the Russian Federation (130 survey sites) and comprised 1600 respondents. The survey has revealed that 48% of participants are afraid to have dementia, 47% are not aware of signs and symptoms of marked cognitive impairment and 54% have concerns about age-related memory impairment. A low percent of people who refer for medical care may be explained by the widespread opinion (37% of Russians) that dementia is not curable; 42% believe that there are no drugs for treatment of dementia. Only 5% of respondents would visit a doctor if their relative has dementia. The results of this survey highlighted the necessity of using special programs to improve people's knowledge about problems of dementia.