Amal I Khalil, Najlaa Aladwani and Samar Aljehani
Background: According to Alzheimer's disease association. The prevalence of Alzheimer's patients will increase to reach 68% worldwide by 2050. More specifically according to Saudi Alzheimer's Association, the number of Alzheimer's patients was reported to be 130 thousand in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study looked at assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and level of burden among family care givers having Alzheimer patients. Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional correlational survey design was used to include 150 family care givers from Geriatric Society Association located in Almontazahat District, Jeddah, K.S.A. Three validated tools were used to assess the knowledge, attitudes and burden related to Alzheimer's disease namely: Alzheimer's disease Knowledge Scale, The Dementia Attitudes Scale, and Burden Scale for Family Caregivers. Findings: The majority (88.6 %) of the respondents were female, their mean age was (29.2 ± 12.5), and 55.6% had Bachelor level of education. Nearly three Quarter (72.5 %) of the respondents have moderate level (16-24 out of 30) of total knowledge of Alzheimer's scale. Surprisingly, 78.5% of the respondents had a negative attitude, and 81.9% felt burden towards their Alzheimer's patients. Unexpectedly, a negative correlation was reported between participant's knowledge and their attitude at p ≥ 0.5 while, a positive correlation was conveyed between respondents' knowledge and family burden scale at p ≥ 0.5. Conclusion and implications: It's concluded that, the level of knowledge among study participants was moderate while their attitude was negative and felt burden toward having Alzheimer's patients. Therefore, it's recommended to conduct psychosocial interventions to improve family caregiver attitudes and reduce their burden toward their beloved Alzheimer' patients. Comprehensive management of the Alzheimer patients includes building a partnership between health professionals and family caregivers, referral to Alzheimer's Associations, and psychosocial interventions where indicated.
