Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Jun 22, 2016; 6(2): 233-238
Published online Jun 22, 2016. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v6.i2.233
Association between recognizing dementia as a mental illness and dementia knowledge among elderly Chinese Americans
Xin Zheng, Benjamin K P Woo
Xin Zheng, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, United States
Benjamin K P Woo, Olive View - UCLA Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 91342, United States
Author contributions: Zheng X and Woo BKP provided substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; Zheng X drafted the article and revised it critically for important intellectual content; Woo BKP gave final approval of the version of the article to be published; Zheng X agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the University of California, Los Angeles’s Education and Research Institute.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Xin Zheng, MS, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, CA 91766, United States. lydiaxzheng@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-818-3643830 Fax: +1-818-3643554
Received: February 29, 2016
Peer-review started: March 4, 2016
First decision: April 15, 2016
Revised: May 2, 2016
Accepted: May 17, 2016
Article in press: May 27, 2016
Published online: June 22, 2016
Abstract

AIM: To investigate whether older Chinese Americans perceive dementia as a mental illness and the relationship between such perception and their general understanding of dementia remains unclear. Our study aims to understand this relationship and its future implication on improving dementia literacy among ethnic minorities.

METHODS: Elderly Chinese American participants from the Greater Los Angeles were asked to complete an 11-item dementia questionnaire, following a community health seminar. Cross-sectional survey data was analyzed using standard statistical methods.

RESULTS: The questionnaire received an 88.3% response rate. Among 316 responders, only 28.8% (n = 91) of elderly Chinese Americans identified dementia as a mental illness, and 71.2% (n = 225) did not recognize its mental disease origin. Furthermore, in comparison between these two groups, the first group demonstrated significantly higher level of baseline knowledge of the disease.

CONCLUSION: This study reveals that only approximately 1 out of 4 older Chinese Americans recognized dementia as a mental illness, consistent with previous studies on Asian Americans. Our study however showed that when dementia was being perceived as a mental illness, such perception was associated with a higher level of baseline dementia understanding. The current study suggested the potential of improving older Chinese Americans dementia literacy by increasing awareness of its mental illness origin.

Keywords: Dementia literacy, Mental illness, Chinese Americans, Stigma

Core tip: This study reveals that only approximately 1 out of every 4 elderly Chinese Americans recognized dementia as a mental illness. Our study however demonstrates that when dementia was being perceived as a mental illness, such perception was associated with a higher level of baseline dementia understanding. Further research is necessary to identify any causative relationship between viewing dementia as a mental illness and improved dementia knowledge, with the ultimate goal of improving dementia management outcomes in elderly Chinese American ethnic population.