Nursing students' knowledge and attitudes about dementia: A cross-sectional study

Aim: This study aimed to determine knowledge and attitudes of nursing students about dementia and factors affecting them. Background: With the increased aging population in the world including Turkiye, the prevalence of dementia is on the rise. Nursing students must have knowledge of dementia to offer high-quality, evidence-based nursing care to people who have dementia. Nursing students' attitudes towards dementia directly affect the quality of the care that they give. A positive attitude contributes to provision of more empathetic and personalized care for people with dementia. Design: A cross-sectional design.Method: The study was performed with 784 nursing students at six universities in Turkiye. Data were collected using a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale and the Dementia Attitudes Scale. Data were analyzed using an independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple linear regression analysis. Factors predicting knowledge and attitudes about dementia were examined using multiple linear regression analysis.Results: The mean age of the nursing students was 20.37 +/- 1.85 years. Of all the nursing students, 82.9% were female, 15.1% were living with an older person, 5.5% had a family member with dementia, 9.8% had prior experience with dementia care and 19.4% received education about dementia. The students had inadequate knowledge of dementia (13.01 +/- 6.66 out of 34), but a moderately positive attitude towards dementia (82.53 +/- 12.44). Female gender (ll = 0.087), increased year of study (ll = 0.346), living in the city center (ll = 0.070), having a family member with dementia (ll =-0.081) and receiving education about dementia (ll = 0.103) had a positive effect on the knowledge about dementia. Knowledge of dementia (ll = 0.226), living in a city (ll = 2.371) and prior experience in dementia care (ll = 0.097) positively affected the attitudes about dementia. Conclusion: Findings of the study suggest that curricula of undergraduate nursing education in Turkiyeshould be improved. Positive effects of education about dementia and clinical experience on knowledge and attitudes regarding dementia reveal a need for a change in the duration and quality of education about dementia.