Awareness, attitudes, and beliefs of dementia in Indonesia

Farina, Nicolas, Hassan, Esra, Theresia, Imelda, Fitri, Fasihah Irfani, Suswanti, Ika, Sani, Tara Puspitarini, Evans-Lacko, Sara ORCID: 0000-0003-4691-2630, Banerjee, Sube and Turana, Yuda (2024) Awareness, attitudes, and beliefs of dementia in Indonesia. Alzheimer's and Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment and Disease Monitoring, 16 (2). ISSN 2352-8729

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Tackling dementia stigma is a policy priority. In Indonesia, we have little insight into the general public's knowledge and attitudes about dementia. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 4430 Indonesian adults recruited from Jakarta and North Sumatra, Indonesia. Measures included dementia knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: A total of 86.3% (n = 3,803) of adults had not heard of the terms dementia or Alzheimer's disease, and commonly viewed dementia as a normal part of aging. Being older, incorrect knowledge about etiology, not having heard of the terms dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease, having less than primary education, and being from North Sumatra were associated with more negative attitudes (p-values < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Misconceptions and lack of awareness about dementia are common in Indonesia. Attitudes tended not to be negative, but our research highlights factors associated with dementia attitudes. Future research should use this information to better tailor and target potential anti-stigma strategies. Highlights: Most Indonesians had not heard of the terms dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease and thought it was caused by normal aging. The majority of participants held mixed or positive attitudes towards dementia. A series of demographic factors alongside poor awareness were associated with negative attitudes towards dementia.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Personal Social Services Research Unit LSE
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry H Social Sciences
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2024 14:54
Last Modified:	03 May 2024 09:15
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122797

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