Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To compare attitudes toward dementia screening of older adults with and without an experience of dementia caregiving.
DESIGN
A cross-sectional study.
SETTING
Primary care clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana.
PARTICIPANTS
Eighty-one participants with dementia caregiving experience (CG) and a random sample of 125 participants without dementia caregiving experience (NCG).
MEASUREMENTS
Attitudes of dementia screening, including acceptance of dementia screening and its perceived harms and benefits, as determined according to the Perceptions Regarding Investigational Screening for Memory in Primary Care questionnaire.
RESULTS
After adjusting for age, race, sex, and education, CGs had a lower dementia screening acceptance mean score (53.9 vs 60.6; P=.03) and a higher perceived suffering score (61.6 vs 55.9, P=.04) than NCGs, but there were no differences in perceived benefits of dementia screening (72.8 vs 69.0; P=.50), perceived stigma (32.9 vs 37.5; P=.12), and perceived negative effect on independence (47.6 vs 54.0; P=.20). The top three barriers to screening identified by both groups were emotional suffering by the family (86% of CGs and 75% of NCGs), loss of driving privileges (75% of CGs and 78% of NCGs), and becoming depressed (64% of CGs and 43% of NCGs).
CONCLUSION
The experience of being a dementia caregiver may influence one's own attitude about accepting dementia screening for oneself.

Links

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Publisher Full Text

Authors

Boustani MA, Justiss MD, Frame A, Austrom MG, Perkins AJ, Cai X, Sachs GA, Torke AM, Monahan P, Hendrie HC

Institution

Center for Aging Research, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. mboustani@regenstrief.org

Source

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 59:4 2011 Apr pg 681-6

MeSH

Adaptation, Psychological
Aged
Attitude of Health Personnel
Caregivers
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dementia
Female
Humans
Male
Nursing Assessment
Questionnaires
Reproducibility of Results

Pub Type(s)

Comparative Study
Journal Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

21438862