Evaluating Knowledge of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease among Egyptians

Objective: To investigate knowledge about Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease among Egyptians attending or accompanying those attending the outpatient clinics of Ain Shams University Hospitals and the dementia clinic in El Abasia Hospital for mental health. Methods: the study was conducted on 343 subjects; 200 males (58.3%) and 143 females (41.7%) with a mean age (± SD) of 48.3±16.3 years. Subjects were subdivided later into those having a dementia patient in the family and those who did not for further statistical analysis. A questionnaire was applied to all subjects regarding the nature of the disease, its magnitude, and related symptoms.
Results: A higher mean knowledge percentage was found among subjects with high education (43.3%) compared to those with secondary education or less (36.8%) and the difference was of a high statistical significance (P<0.01). Having a patient with dementia in the family did not significantly improve the mean knowledge percentage regarding the disease compared to those not having a family member with dementia. Females and participants aged < 48 years showed better knowledge than males and participants > 48 years but the relation was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The most correct knowledge participants have is the genetic nature of the disease (99.8 %) while the most incorrect one is that patient interview, neurological examination and CT brain give 100% diagnostic accuracy (95.1%).
Conclusion: The main factor that influences dementia knowledge is educational level. The knowledge about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the Egyptian community is deficient.