Dementia health matters: Influence of literacy, fears, and endorsements on dementia risk mitigation and screening among community-dwelling older adults

Background: Up to one-third of dementia cases may be preventable, with evidence suggesting that modifying lifestyle and health behaviors can significantly lower the risk of developing dementia. However, motivating older adults to adopt and sustain these changes poses a considerable challenge, particularly when facing the specter of dementia.

Aim: To explore the interaction effect between dementia fear and dementia literacy on the perceived ability of community-dwelling older adults to reduce dementia risk and engage in dementia screening.

Method: A cross-sectional study involving 1,067 community-dwelling older adults was conducted from August 2022 to December 2023. Participants completed surveys assessing their dementia literacy, personal dementia fear, motivation to change lifestyle and health behaviors, and willingness to engage in investigational screening for memory in primary care.

Findings: Personal dementia fear exhibited significant positive correlations with motivation to change lifestyle and health behavior (r = 0.621, p < 0.001) and investigational screening for memory in primary care (r = 0.559, p < 0.001), indicating that higher levels of fear are associated with increased motivation. Second, dementia literacy demonstrated positive correlations with motivation to change lifestyle and health behavior (r = 0.349, p < 0.001) and investigational screening (r = 0.269, p < 0.001), suggesting that more excellent knowledge enhances perceived ability. Lastly, both dementia literacy and personal dementia fear were positively correlated with motivation to change health behaviors, with respective effects of β = 0.266 and β = 0.595, highlighting their interactive role in shaping perceptions of risk reduction and screening.

Implication: The significant contributions of dementia literacy, personal dementia fear, and their interaction highlight the importance of these factors in accepting investigational screening for memory in primary care.