Knowledge About Alzheimer's Disease in Saudi Arabia

BackgroundAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative dementia which constitutes a major healthcare problem globally. This study aimed to assess the pattern and determinants of knowledge about AD in Saudi Arabia. MethodologyIn this cross-sectional study, information was collected from 286 participants using a validated questionnaire on seven subdomains of knowledge about AD. SPSS (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) was used for data analysis. Different tests of significance such as the chi-square test and principal component factor analyses were employed. The level of significance was set at 0.05. ResultsThe 25 questions on knowledge, attitudes, and practice about AD had a high Cronbach's alpha (0.911). All scores on the seven subdomains of knowledge, attitudes, and practice about AD were significantly correlated with each other (p < 0.05). The knowledge of the population about AD was very low, with the majority of the correct responses for questions on the different subdomains of knowledge about AD ranging from 10% to 67% (76% of the answers were below 50% correct answers). Females and smokers had higher scores on most subdomains compared to males and non-smokers (p < 0.05). ConclusionsKnowledge of the population about AD is very low. As the subdomains of knowledge on AD are correlated, healthcare professionals should implement health education programs on AD to increase the knowledge of the population regarding the course, symptoms, risk factors, treatment and management, and caregiving and reveal their association with the impact of AD on the health of affected individuals.