Assessing Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Among Racial and Ethnic Population Groups in Salt Lake City

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is predicted to grow substantially over the next five decades. Based on these projections, it is imperative that individuals, families, and communities are aware of this disease in order to be able to successfully prepare for the associated psychosocial and financial challenges. The "Utah State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia", states the need for Utah to be "Dementia-Aware". However, there are no baseline data available regarding AD knowledge in the state. Because minority older adults are 1.5 to 2 times as likely to develop AD as their white counterparts, this pilot study comparatively assessed AD knowledge in adults in five racial and ethnic groups in SLC. Through convenience sampling, participants received a demographic questionnaire and the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS). The sample (N = 91) was 58 % female, and were on average 41years old with 16 years of education. The mean score on the ADKS was 20.9 (SD = 4.0) (out of a possible 30 points). Results of a one-way ANOVA showed that white participants scored significantly higher, than participants from other racial and ethnic subgroups except the American Indians. There were no significant differences between the mean scores of the four other racial and ethnic groups. In conclusion, although white respondents scored higher on average than respondents from other racial and ethnic groups, the findings of this study reflect a relatively low knowledge-base of AD among a sample of SLC residents across all racial and ethnic groups.