Abstract

As aging begins to become an issue globally, governments and individuals are taking Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease into consideration and applying protocols. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1 out of 6 individuals will be over 60 years old by the year 2030. Alzheimer's disease is a common progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over the years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild but with the development of dementia, individuals will lose the ability to carry on a conversation or respond to their environment. Each year, there are over 10 million new cases of Alzheimer’s dementia in the world, implying one new case every 3.2 seconds. In the United States, the situation is also severe. An estimated 6.7 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer and one-third of seniors pass away with Alzheimer's or another dementia. Therefore, this disease was officially listed as the sixth-leading cause of death in the US.

Purpose

Due to the fact that there are only a few drugs that can help suppress Alzheimer’s currently, it is important for the elders to develop some healthy habits in advance to reduce the risks, like having a healthy diet, maintaining social connections with others, keeping exercising and so on. Thus, the purpose of our research is not only to understand what teenagers know about Alzheimer's disease but also to remind elderly citizens to take care of their health. The research group conducts this research following the purpose of investigation and to spread awareness of Alzheimer’s disease to society.

Process

To begin, the group performed basic knowledge research on Alzheimer’s disease, learning about the basic concepts and symptoms of the disease. A survey was also created and published online to gather information from citizens worldwide. Once the survey is completed by a small sample size of population, the group gathers and collects all the data, organizing them by categories and sections.  Finally, the group interpreted and summarized the dataset from the survey, and investigated further with data analysis, which the final product is displayed in a research paper.

Results

After the survey is completed, the information is displayed in the format of a spreadsheet (Fig 1a). Link

The spreadsheet organized and categorized the data into sections, and analysis may be made from the data collected.

Result Analysis

For the questions in the survey, the group’s age ranged from 12 to above 18 and spread across over 4 countries. The group intended to review the responses of teenagers or young adults’ knowledge about the subject issue and draw conclusions, the vast majority of data are from around 15 to 16 living in Canada. The survey then continues questioning the individual about their awareness, attitude, and connection to Alzheimer’s disease.

Table A

Table B

The participants are asked to ask two questions regarding primary knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease. Table A shows the response of the candidates on their ability to identify primary symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The answer choices are put into 3 categories: yes, maybe, and no. 58.33% of the candidates answered that they may have the ability to identify symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. Identifying an overall moderate ability toward identification and knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease. Table B shows the responses of candidates on individual knowledge of Alzheimer's disease, they need to choose between very well, well, and okay. 61.11% agree to have moderately good knowledge of Alzheimer’s Disease. And the other candidates (36.11%) have limited but good ideas about Alzheimer's Disease. Both data stated that for teenagers, primary knowledge of Alzheimer’s Disease, is mostly in the moderate range, well but limited.

Throughout the process, a trend in teenagers about their acknowledgment of Alzheimer’s disease is conveyed to the group. Most of them have limited knowledge, and a minimum amount of the sample population has throughout or no knowledge at all. This indicates that society is aware of this disease but only from others talking about it or brief information.

Conclusion

In conclusion, society needs more acknowledgment and awareness of Alzheimer's, especially about the symptoms and treatments. The sample population, teenagers, have some knowledge but not much regarding this issue, concluding that the awareness of Alzheimer’s disease is not being spread enough and there is still a partial population that has a lack of education on this issue. The awareness and identification of symptoms are necessary as aging is becoming a global issue, meaning more attention needs to be paid.

References

Ageing and health. (2022, October 1). World Health Organization (WHO). Retrieved December 19, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health

What is Alzheimer's Disease? (n.d.). CDC. Retrieved December 19, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/aging/aginginfo/alzheimers.htm