What do public high school teachers in Nigeria know about dementia?

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe number of dementia cases is projected to triple in the next 20‐25 years with majority of the increase in developing countries including Nigeria. Teachers can act as excellent educators by playing a key role of delivering important health education messages to students that target early adoption of healthy behaviours and reduce stigma. However, there is no assessment of school teachers’ understanding of dementia in Nigeria.MethodThis was a cross‐sectional study of 300 high school teachers, aged 18 years or older, and working in public schools in Lagos, Nigeria. A 14‐item questionnaire with yes/no or don’t know responses was used to assess their knowledge about dementia from June to November 2022. The data obtained were analysed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25.ResultThe mean age of respondents was 42.9 ± 9.9 years and 59.3% of them were females. The majority (81.0%) had heard about dementia and 32.0% knew someone with dementia. The mean score for knowledge about dementia was 7.4 ± 0.2 points out of 14 points. More than half of the respondents (56.0%) reported that dementia is a normal part of ageing, 29.7% considered dementia to be a mental illness, and a half (50.0%) of the participants did not know if dementia could be cured. The level of dementia knowledge was not significantly associated with age or with education level.ConclusionOur results suggest that the teachers had a fair knowledge of dementia. There is a need to better educate school teachers and improve their knowledge about dementia. Emphasis on the risk factors, prevention, and symptoms of dementia should be included in the educational content.