Information avoidance is associated with lower willingness to be screened for dementia

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Public Health
• Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Studies

Background:

• Fear of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias can trigger defensive avoidance of related information.
• This avoidance may extend to public health messages and reduce willingness for crucial dementia screening or diagnostic testing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of dementia information avoidance.
• To assess the association between dementia information avoidance and willingness for dementia screening.
• To investigate if lower generalized self-efficacy correlates with increased dementia information avoidance.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 285 participants recruited online.
• Measures included dementia information avoidance tendencies, generalized self-efficacy, screening willingness, perceived risk, worry, preventability, and knowledge.
• Statistical analyses examined associations between variables.

Main Results:

• Nearly half of respondents perceived a likelihood of developing dementia; a quarter expressed worry.
• While overall screening willingness was high (91.9%), a subgroup (9.5%) avoiding dementia information showed reduced screening willingness.
• Lower generalized self-efficacy was significantly associated with higher dementia information avoidance.

Conclusions:

• Dementia information avoidance is linked to reduced screening willingness, particularly among those with lower self-efficacy.
• Public health communication strategies should consider enhancing self-efficacy to mitigate defensive avoidance of dementia information.
• Interventions focused on building agency beliefs may improve engagement with dementia prevention and screening efforts.