Dementia-Preventing Behavior Awareness and Uptake Rates among Japanese Women in Midlife: A Survey-Based Pilot Study.

Lifestyle changes may help prevent dementia. However, the perception and practice of dementia-preventing behaviors remain unclear; understanding both factors is required to help prevent dementia already at early stages. This study aimed to examine the awareness and uptake rates of dementia-preventive behaviors among community-dwelling women aged 40 to 64 years, and their associations with dementia-related anxiety. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed by mail from January to May 2020. The effective response rate was 20.4% (n = 47). Approximately 60% of the responders had dementia-related anxiety; approximately 80% wanted to prevent dementia. The participants were aware of two or more dementia-preventive behaviors; however, less than 50% of them practiced at least one behavior. The group with dementia-related anxiety was more interested in and aware of dementia prevention methods than the group without the anxiety. Women with greater dementia knowledge also knew more methods of preventing it; however, they were not necessarily implementing the recommended behaviors.

A Survey of Dementia Knowledge and Recognition of Dementia Prevention and Practice in Healthy Older Adults.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the level of dementia knowledge and behaviors recognized as dementia-preventive and the practice thereof among healthy older adults who are highly motivated to engage in activities. METHODS: The participants were older adults registered at the Silver Human Resource Center of city A, and participants anonymously filled questionnaires through the aggregation method in January 2020. RESULTS: The analysis included 78 participants (the effective response rate was 49.7%). All participants were aware of at least 4 dementia-preventive behaviors, and about 80% of all participants practiced at least 1 preventive behavior. Approximately 20% of participants were not practicing preventive behaviors at all. The elderly aged 65 to 74 years had more knowledge about dementia and more types of behavior perceived as dementia-preventive than the elderly aged 75 years and older. There was no significant correlation between the level of dementia knowledge and the number of types of dementia-preventive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy older adults were aware of numerous behaviors for dementia prevention, and most older adults practiced preventive behaviors. In contrast, even with a high amount of knowledge about dementia, a small number of healthy older adults did not translate this knowledge into preventative behavioral practices. High levels of dementia knowledge do not translate into preventive behavioral practices.