Dementia knowledge among physiotherapists in Nigeria

With the growing population of older adults in Nigeria comes a simultaneous rise in the incidence of dementia in the country. Adequate knowledge of dementia is needed to effectively administer interventions for persons living with dementia. Physiotherapy is one of the professions providing care for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of dementia among physiotherapists in Nigeria.

An online survey method was used to collect data from the sample population of practicing physiotherapists in Nigeria. Data was collected using the 21-item Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool Version Two (DKAT2) and the respondents also provided some demographic information. Mann Whitney test, Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman's rho correlation were used to test for association between the DKAT2 scores and the demographic variables and this association was further explored with multiple linear regression analysis.

A total number of 223 physiotherapists participated in this study. The findings of the study show that there is limited knowledge of dementia among the physiotherapists. Number of years of professional experience and specialty groups predicted significantly higher knowledge scores.

The knowledge deficits found among physiotherapists in Nigeria indicate that older adults living with dementia might not be receiving the best evidence-based physiotherapy treatments for their condition. This research therefore advocates for an educational intervention to be carried out within the physiotherapy profession in order to improve the quality of services rendered to their patients.