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Association among Dementia Knowledge, Dementia Attitude, Dementia Care
Attitude among Nursing Students: A Cross-sectional Study

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J. Zhu, S. Yuan, L. Wei, and F. Zhang 1
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West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, China

Background: With the increased aging population, the prevalence of dementia is expected to
increase. Nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes about dementia have affected the retention rate
and quality of nursing students engaged in geriatric nursing. However, there is a lack of surveys on
the knowledge and attitude about dementia among nursing students at different educational levels.
Objective: To investigate the status quo, related factors, and association of dementia knowledge,
dementia attitude, dementia care attitude of nursing students.

Methods: A cross-sectional study adopted an online survey with convenience in southwest China.
Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale, Dementia Attitude Scale, Dementia Care Attitude Scale were
utilized. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, analysis of variance, multiple linear
regression, and Pearson correlation.
Oral Presentation Abstracts
Results: 665 nursing students (415 vocational college nursing students, 276 undergraduates, 74
postgraduates) participated in the study. 83.8% of participants were female and 27.28% of
participants were willing to provide geriatric nursing. The mean scores of dementia knowledge,
dementia attitude, and care attitude were 26.48/50.00, 23.81/40.00 and 92.42/140.00. Participants who
had higher educational qualifications, had contact with older people with dementia, had a good
relationship with the elderly, were willing to provide geriatric nursing had higher dementia knowledge,
dementia attitude, and dementia care attitude. Dementia knowledge correlations with dementia
attitude and dementia care attitude are respectively 0.36(P<0.01), and 0.38(P<0.01), and the correlation
between dementia attitude and dementia care attitude is 0.39(P<0.01).

Conclusion: Participants exhibited moderate levels of dementia knowledge, dementia attitude, and
dementia care attitude. A small percentage of nursing students are willing to work in aged care.
Dementia knowledge, dementia attitude, and dementia care attitude are positively correlated.

Keywords: nursing student, dementia, geriatric nursing

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Correspondence: Fengying Zhang, West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, China
E-mail: zhangfengying@scu.edu.cn

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