INTRODUCTION

Dementia has been a public health concern for several years. As the population continuously ages, the prevalence of dementia is projected to significantly rise, thus governments will face an increasing demand for support services. Unfortunately, dementia is not recognized as a major public health concern in the Philippines. As the extent of the dementia epidemic needs to be further delineated in the Philippines, and research on dementia is still limited, a larger study is needed to provide more information about the disease burden. This will raise awareness and inform policy makers about the necessity of social and health care reform in dementia care.

We aimed to collect uniform data from patients with cognitive impairment and determine the frequency of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the study population. These data are crucial for providing information to policy makers in the country.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is a multi-center, prospective, observational, non-interventional study and standing database of patients clinically diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia seen at the participating training institutions. Corresponding anonymized data on demographics, medical history, risk factors, level of functional impairment, diagnosis, baseline cognitive scores and management will be collected from each patient and entered into the database using a secure online data collection tool. Collective data will be extracted, summarized and analyzed every year with oversight provided by the Philippine Neurological Association (PNA).

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Approval from the ethics committees or institutional review boards (EC/IRB) was obtained from the Single Joint Research Ethics Board and all participating institutions.

The PNA1DB-Dementia initiative will be crucial in providing information to policy makers, to further enhance the implementation of the Mental Health Act. The dissemination of results will be conducted through scientific or public conferences and scientific journal publication.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT05484960; ClinicalTrials.gov.

Human ; Dementia ; Database ; Philippines

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The demographic background, level of knowledge, and attitude of caregivers are pillars of care in dementia. Family and non-family members take on this role. Studies have been done on their knowledge and attitude, but none have focused on them during hospitalization, wherein greater stress is imposed on both the caregiver and the patient. This study aims to determine the profiles, and its association with knowledge, and attitudes of caregivers of hospitalized patients with dementia in a tertiary hospital in Metro Manila.

METHODS

A single-center descriptive cross-sectional design using Demographic profile Questionnaire, Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS), and Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) were used on Filipino caregivers of inpatients with dementia in Metro Manila. Simple and multivariable linear regression were used to assess demographic factors in relation to the attitude and knowledge of the caregivers.

RESULTS

Eighteen females with a mean age of 49 (SD=8) years old participated. Ten participants completed college. Six (33.3%) of the respondents were family members, five (27.8%) were occupational caregivers, four (22.2%) were house-helps, and two (11.1%) were nurses. Majority (66%) had 3-10-year duration of caregiving. Mean score of knowledge scale is 21.17 out of 30. Age, education, caregiver role, and attitude were positively associated with knowledge. The mean score for attitude level is 119.83 out of 140. Age, education, duration, caregiving role, patient’s age, and knowledge were positively associated with attitude; with education being statistically significant (p=0.046).

CONCLUSION

Caregivers exhibited reasonable knowledge for such caregivers to carry out their duties on inpatients with dementia at an adequate level, with several factors correlating positively, indicating areas for improvement. Their attitude scores revealed positive disposition; with education emerging as statistically significant. Continuing education and targeted interventions can further enhance quality of caregiving.

Dementia ; Caregiver Burden ; Attitude ; Knowledge ; Philippines

Background and Objectives: The demographic background, level of knowledge, and attitude of caregivers are pillars of care in dementia. Family and non-family members take on this role. Studies have been done on their knowledge and attitude, but none have focused on them during hospitalization, wherein greater stress is imposed on both the caregiver and the patient. This study aims to determine the profiles, and its association with knowledge, and attitudes of caregivers of hospitalized patients with dementia in a tertiary hospital in Metro Manila. Methods: A single-center descriptive cross-sectional design using Demographic profile Questionnaire, Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS), and Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) were used on Filipino caregivers of inpatients with dementia in Metro Manila. Simple and multivariable linear regression were used to assess demographic factors in relation to the attitude and knowledge of the caregivers. Results: Eighteen females with a mean age of 49 (SD=8) years old participated. Ten participants completed college. Six (33.3%) of the respondents were family members, five (27.8) % were occupational caregivers, four (22.2%) were house-helps, and two (11.1%) were nurses. Majority (66%) had 3-10-year duration of caregiving. Mean score of knowledge scale is 21.17 out of 30. Age, education, caregiver role, and attitude were positively associated with knowledge. The mean score for attitude level is 119.83 out of 140. Age, education, duration, caregiving role, patient’s age, and knowledge were positively associated with attitude; with education being statistically significant (p=0.046). Conclusion Caregivers exhibited reasonable knowledge for such caregivers to carry out their duties on inpatients with dementia at an adequate level, with several factors correlating positively, indicating areas for improvement. Their attitude scores revealed positive disposition; with education emerging as statistically significant. Continuing education and targeted interventions can further enhance quality of caregiving.
dementia ; caregiver burden ; attitude ; knowledge ; Philippines

BACKGROUND: The Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) is widely used as a screening tool for dementia. However, it has limitations as it lacks assessment of other cognitive domains. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a 30-point test which can be administered in 10 minutes and which was made freely available by its developer, has been recently introduced and has been found to be a more sensitive screening tool fur early cognitive impairment and dementia compared to the MMSE. OBJECTIVES: To modify the MoCA so it can be adapted into the Filipino setting (Filipino adaptation of the MoCA or FA-MoCA); To assess the applicability of the FA-MoCA in our local setting; Using pre-determined cut-off points, to compare the number of respondents scoring normally and below cut-offi in both FA-MoCA and the MMSE-Filipino (MMSE-F). METHOD: One hundred (100) respondents which comprised of nursing and nursing aide staff from two tertiary hospitals, were administered both MMSE-F and FA-MoCAin random order with a minimum of one hour and a maximum of three days from each other. Global individual and mean scores for both tests and item mean scores for the FA-MoCA were computed. Proportion of subjects scoring below and within/above cutoff points were determined for both tests. Using one-sample t-test, FA-MoCA mean scores of the respondents were compared to the MoCA normative data derived from an earlier validity study for the latter. RESULTS: Mean age of the respondents was 28.27 ± 7.70 years. All the respondents had 14 years of schooling. The mean MMSE-F score was 28.75 ± 1.21; mean FA-MoCA score for all respondents was 24.83 ± 1.97. Ninety-seven (97%) of the respondents had normal MMSE-F scores, 3% had MMSE-F scores below cut-off point; whereas, 39% had normal FA-MoCA scores and 61 % had FA-MoCA scores below cut-off. Among those with normal MMSE-F scores, 59 (60.8%) had abnormal FA-MoCA scores and 38 (39.2%) had normal FA-MoCA scores. Compared to the MoCA normative data, the respondents' global mean FA-MoCA score was significantly lower than that of the normal controls (p=0.00, t-test, CI: -2.93 to -2.15). With regards to the item mean FA-MoCA scores, the following were noted to be significantly lower than the MoCA item scores of normal controls in the MoCA normative data: cube (p=0.00, t-test), clock (p=0.00, t-test), naming (p=0.00, t-test), memory (p=0.004, t-test), sentence repetition (p=0.00, t-test), and abstraction (p=0.00, t-test). On the other hand, the FA-MoCA respondents' score in the digit span item was significantly higher (p=0.00, t-test) then the MoCA normative data. CONCLUSION: The FA-MoCA may be easily administered as an initial screening tool for cognition with recommended minimal modifications for its administration. It dearly provides more information than the MMSE-F as it allows assessment of more cognitive domains.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic Techniques And Procedures ; Dementia ; Nervous System Diseases ; Central Nervous System Diseases ; Brain Diseases