Assessment of awareness, information of latest Alzheimer sickness studies and treatments among health-related students in Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah city a cross-sectional study

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered as the most dominant neurodegenerative disease that destructs neuronal brain cells. Globally, the prevalence of AD has increased in the last decades; accounting for fifty million new cases per year with ten million new people diagnosed each year. This survey based study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and awareness of the recent management of AD among health related students at Umm Al Qura University (UQU), Makkah city. Methods: From June 2021 to August 2021, students were given an online survey to complete. An adequate statistical analysis was performed once the data was collected. Results: In total, 392 students from the second to the sixth year took part in the survey. A majority of the students (69.13%) were between the ages of 21 and 23, and a little over half (54.6%) were male. The percentage of responses from medical students was highest (39%), coming from those in their fifth year of school. Most students (81.89%) had only a basic understanding of the available treatments for AD, and only 17.86% had a moderate level of knowledge. In contrast, only 0.26 percent was considered to have a high level of knowledge. Conclusions: Further studies and educational programs are needed to improve healthcare students' understanding of Alzheimer's disease.