Dementia literacy: Recognition and beliefs on dementia of the Australian public

Background: Dementia is a growing health problem worldwide and in Australia. Little research has been conducted on dementia literacy in the community. Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the recognition of dementia and beliefs regarding prognosis, cause, and risk reduction in the Australian public. A cross-sectional telephone survey of 2,000 randomly selected community-dwelling adults (23.4% response rate) was conducted. Results: Eighty-two percent of the sample correctly identified "dementia" or "Alzheimer's" from a vignette. There were no differences in recognition rates between vignettes describing mild or moderate dementia symptoms. Almost half thought that at least partial recovery would occur, given appropriate treatment. More than 80% of the sample thought that genetics, old age, brain disease, and stroke or mini-stroke contributed to a person getting dementia. Seventy-two percent thought that the risk of dementia could be reduced. The most frequently suggested methods for risk reduction were mental exercise (38.8%), eating healthily (31.0%), physical exercise (30.2%), and socializing more (13.9%). Sociodemographic characteristics were associated with dementia knowledge and beliefs. Conclusions: The majority of the Australian public recognize the symptoms of dementia and think dementia risk can be reduced. However, most do not know of the association between dementia and cardiovascular factors. Public awareness campaigns need to increase accurate knowledge of factors consistently found to be associated with dementia.