An Investigation of the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Family Caregivers of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the current status of the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of primary home caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). To propose targeted intervention measures to improve home caregivers’ ability of caring, by analyzing influencing factors. Methods 76 family caregivers of patients diagnosed as AD in a third-class hospital in Guangzhou were selected for this survey of convenient sampling. These patients were followed up at home after discharge from the hospital, and their main family caregivers were investigated by knowledge, attitude, practice questionnaire. Results The total scores of knowledge, attitude and practice of the home caregivers of AD patients respectively were (53.16±8.78), (33.53±4.69), (56.34±13.39). There were statistically significant differences between the self-care ability of patients, the occurrence of AD symptoms and the knowledge score of caregivers (P Conclusions The scores of home caregivers of patients with AD remain low in knowledge, attitude and practice, so it is necessary to strengthen the health education and care guidance for these caregivers. In this way, the caregivers can obtain more social support to improve their ability to care for patients.