Factors Associated with Indonesian Older People’s Knowledge of Disorientation as One of Dementia Symptoms

The number of older people diagnosed with dementia is rising in Indonesia. Older people were at risk of missing out on the necessary care and treatment because of a lack of awareness of dementia symptoms and screening. The purpose of this study was to investigate older people’s knowledge of dementia symptoms and the factors associated to their awareness of disorientation as one of early symptoms of dementia in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DI Yogyakarta), Indonesia. This cross sectional study was conducted in 121 community in DI Yogyakarta. A total of 1.010 older people and 121 community health workers (CHWs) were interviewed via telephone. Participants were asked about their knowledge of early symptoms of dementia. Multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to examine factors associated with older people knowledge of the most common dementia symptom known by the older people. In general, this study found that Indonesia older people had low knowledge of early symptoms of dementia. Furthermore, older persons with education of junior high school and higher and participated in social activities had higher knowledge of disorientation as the most recognizable dementia symptoms compare to other variables as indicated by the proportion of 15.9% and 12.8% respectively. Additionally, the regression analysis found an association for both aforementioned variables with the knowledge of disorientation (p < 0.05). The knowledge of early symptoms of dementia among older persons was low. Campaign to disseminate information on dementia awareness is needed to increase the knowledge of older persons of dementia symptoms.