Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:30:34.592Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Awareness of putative risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease among elderly Koreans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

Moon Ho Park ,
Sangmee Ahn Jo ,
Inho Jo ,
Eunkyung Kim ,
Eun Kyung Woo ,
Sung-Soo Kim ,
Su-Yong Eun ,
Changsu Han  and
Min Kyu Park
Moon Ho Park
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Korea University Medical College, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea The Geriatric Health Clinic and Research Institute, Korea University Medical Center, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea
Sangmee Ahn Jo
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 194 Tongillo, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul 122-701, Republic of Korea
Inho Jo
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 194 Tongillo, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul 122-701, Republic of Korea
Eunkyung Kim
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 194 Tongillo, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul 122-701, Republic of Korea
Eun Kyung Woo
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 194 Tongillo, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul 122-701, Republic of Korea
Sung-Soo Kim
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 194 Tongillo, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul 122-701, Republic of Korea
Su-Yong Eun
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 194 Tongillo, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul 122-701, Republic of Korea
Changsu Han*
Affiliation:
The Geriatric Health Clinic and Research Institute, Korea University Medical Center, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea Department of Psychiatry, Korea University Medical College, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea
Min Kyu Park
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Korea University Medical College, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea The Geriatric Health Clinic and Research Institute, Korea University Medical Center, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea
*
Changsu Han, Department of Psychiatry, Ansan Hospital, Korea University Medical Center, 516 Gojan-1-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82-31-412-5600; Fax: +82-31-412-5154; E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

Although there are rapidly growing concerns about the high rates of cognitive dysfunction in Korea, the knowledge of risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among the general public in Korea remains to be elucidated.

Methods:

A total of 2767 randomly selected subjects from the Ansan Geriatric Study were questioned on their knowledge of putative risk factors for AD. Their answers were compared with their sociodemographic data and other variables.

Results:

The most common stated risk factor was being older (59.6%), followed by head trauma (33.6%) and cerebrovascular disease (30.4%). However, a substandard education, which is a known risk factor, was considered significant by only 9.5% of the subjects. Predictors for a worse knowledge of the risk factors for AD were being older, a lower level of education, lower economic status and the attitude that dementia is not curable.

Conclusion:

This study revealed that misunderstanding about AD is more prevalent in older subjects and those with a lower level of education, and so public health education on the basic concepts of AD should be targeted at this population.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s diseaseknowledgeKoreans
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 20 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Folstein, MF, Bassett, SS, Anthony, JC, Romanoski, AJ, Nestadt, GR. Dementia: case ascertainment in a community survey. J Gerontol 1991;46:M132–M138. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Essink-Bot, ML, Pereira, J, Packer, C, Schwarzinger, M, Burstrom, K. Cross-national comparability of burden of disease estimates: the European Disability Weights Project. Bull World Health Organ 2002;80:644–652. Google ScholarPubMed
Office KNS. Statistical annual 2001. Daejeon: Korea National Statistics Office, 2002. Google ScholarPubMed
Kim, J, Jeong, I, Chun, JH, Lee, S. The prevalence of dementia in a metropolitan city of South Korea. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2003;18:617–622. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, DY, Lee, JH, Ju, YSet al. The prevalence of dementia in older people in an urban population of Korea: the Seoul study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2002;50:1233–1239. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suh, GH, Kim, JK, Cho, MJ. Community study of dementia in the older Korean rural population. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2003;37:606–612. Google ScholarPubMed
Brookmeyer, R, Gray, S, Kawas, C. Projections of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States and the public health impact of delaying disease onset. Am J Public Health 1998;88:1337–1342. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Park, MH, Jo, SA, Jo, Iet al. No difference in stroke knowledge between Korean adherents to traditional and Western medicine – the AGE study: an epidemiological study. BMC Public Health 2006;6:153. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daley, S, Braimah, J, Sailor, Set al. Education to improve stroke awareness and emergent response. The NINDS rt-PA Stroke Study Group. J Neurosci Nurs 1997;29:393–396. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silver, FL, Rubini, F, Black, D, Hodgson, CS. Advertising strategies to increase public knowledge of the warning signs of stroke. Stroke 2003;34:1965–1968. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindsay, J, Laurin, D, Verreault, Ret al. Risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease: a prospective analysis from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging. Am J Epidemiol 2002;156:445–453. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haan, MN, Wallace, R. Can dementia be prevented? Brain aging in a population-based context. Annu Rev Public Health 2004;25:1–24. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, JS, Connell, CM, Cisewski, D, Hipps, YG, Demissie, S, Green, RC. Differences between African Americans and whites in their perceptions of Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 2003;17:19–26. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chee, YK, Levkoff, SE. Culture and dementia: accounts by family caregivers and health professionals for dementia-affected elders in South Korea. J Cross Cult Gerontol 2001;16:111–125. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
The Canadian Study of Health and Aging: risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease in Canada. Neurology 1994;44:2073–2080. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muller-Spahn, F, Hock, C. Risk factors and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 1999;249 (Suppl. 3):37–42. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mortimer, JA, Van Duijn, CM, Chandra, Vet al. Head trauma as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease: a collaborative re-analysis of case-control studies. EURODEM Risk Factors Research Group. Int J Epidemiol 1991;20 (Suppl. 2):S28–S35. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Duijn, CM, Clayton, D, Chandra, Vet al. Familial aggregation of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders: a collaborative re-analysis of case-control studies. EURODEM Risk Factors Research Group. Int J Epidemiol 1991;20 (Suppl. 2):S13–S20. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valenzuela, MJ, Sachdev, P. Brain reserve and dementia: a systematic review. Psychol Med 2006;36:441–454. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Werner, P. Knowledge about symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease: correlates and relationship to help-seeking behaviour. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2003;18:1029–1036. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, P. Assessing correlates of concern about developing Alzheimer’s disease among adults with no family history of the disease. Am J Alzheimers Dis 2002;17:331–337. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed