Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr 7;17(7):2511.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072511.

Dementia Literacy in the Greater Bay Area, China: Identifying the At-Risk Population and the Preferred Types of Mass Media for Receiving Dementia Information

Angela Y M Leung  1 , Alex Molassiotis  1   2 , June Zhang  3 , Renli Deng  4 , Ming Liu  5 , Iat Kio Van  6 , Cindy Siu U Leong  5 , Isaac S H Leung  1   7 , Doris Y P Leung  1 , Xiaoling Lin  3 , Alice Y Loke  1
Affiliations

Dementia Literacy in the Greater Bay Area, China: Identifying the At-Risk Population and the Preferred Types of Mass Media for Receiving Dementia Information

Angela Y M Leung et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the dementia literacy of community-dwelling adults in four cities (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Macau, and Zhuhai) of the Greater Bay Area of China, and to determine their mass media preferences for receiving dementia information. Methods: The survey was completed by 787 community-dwelling adults. Dementia literacy was indirectly measured using two validated scales-the 30-item Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale and the 20-item Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS). Participants were also asked to indicate whether they wanted to receive dementia information via digital or traditional media. Chi-square tests, logistic regressions, and MANOVA analyses were conducted. Results: Unemployed or retired people had poor attitudes towards dementia and lower levels of knowledge about dementia. Single, cohabiting, or divorced people in Hong Kong and Macau had lower DAS scores than married people. Young people and those with a secondary education preferred to get their dementia information from social media. People with a tertiary education and employed people enjoyed searching government or hospital websites for information. Middle-aged, unemployed, or retired people tended to learn about dementia from television or radio. Conclusion: It is worth educating the public about dementia and developing strategies consistent with their preferences for types of mass media.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s Disease; community; cross-sectional study; dementia; health literacy; knowledge.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of the data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) scores among students, and the employed and unemployed participants across four cities.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) scores among married people and others across four cities.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Preferences in mass media for receiving dementia information.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Alzheimer’s Disease International World Alzheimer Report 2018. [(accessed on 23 March 2020)]; Available online: https://www.alz.co.uk/research/world-report-2018.
    1. Wu Y.-T., Ali G.-C., Guerchet M., Prina A.M., Chan K.Y., Prince M., Brayne C. Prevalence of dementia in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2018;47:709–719. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyy007. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Low L.F., Anstey K.J. Dementia literacy: Recognition and beliefs on dementia of the Australian public. Alzheimers Dement. 2009;5:43–49. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2008.03.011. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leung A.Y.M., Lo S., Leung I., Liu J.W.Y., Ting S. Improving health literacy and medication compliance through comic books: A quasi-experimental study in Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Glob. Health Promot. Spec. Issue Health Lit. 2018;25:67–78. doi: 10.1177/1757975918798364. - DOI
    1. Eber A.R., Kuliber D., McFadden S.H. Effects of dementia knowledge and dementia fear on comfort with people having dementia: Implications for dementia-friendly communities. Dementia. 2019 doi: 10.1177/1471301219827708. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types