The purpose of this study is to identify the factors influencing fear of dementia in middle-aged and elderly and to provide basic data for the development of nursing intervention program to manage fear of dementia in middle-aged and elderly.
The data were collected from January 20 to March 22, 2018 by using structured questionnaires for 156 middle-aged and elderly living in Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea. As for the fear of dementia, the tool which was developed by French et al. (2012) and adapted by Moon et al. (2014) were used. As for the dementia knowledge, the tool which was developed by Lee Young-Whee (2007) was used. As for the dementia attitude, the tool which was developed by Lee Young-Whee (2007) was used. As for the dementia Health beliefs, the tool which developed by Kim et al. (2014) and translated, amended and supplemented by the researcher was used.
The collected data was analyzed using SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. Specifically with independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression.
The results of this study are as follows.
1) The mean score of dementia knowledge of middle-aged and elderly was 14.42±3.13(range 0-20), the mean score of dementia attitude was 44.12±4.96(range 15-60), the mean score of perceived susceptibility was 8.39±3.33(range 4-20), the mean score of perceived severity was 12.77±4.50(range 5-25), the mean score of perceived benefit was 15.12±2.94(range 4-20) and the mean score of perceived barrier was 10.12±3.64(range 4-20).
2) The mean score of fear of dementia among middle-aged and elderly was 44.58±26.17(range 0-120). The mean score of general fear, a sub-division of fear of dementia, was 30.20±16.67(range 0-66), the mean score of physical symptoms 5.53±7.56(range 0-32) and the mean score and catastrophic attitude was 8.85±5.88(range 0-20).
3) The subject’s fear of dementia was significantly different according to subjective life satisfaction (F=3.72, p=.006) and regular exercise (t=6.05, p=.015). The fear of dementia among middle-aged and elderly was positively correlated with dementia attitude (r=.329, p<.001), perceived susceptibility (r=.521, p<.001), perceived severity (r=.653, p<.001), perceived barrier (r=.498, p<.001) and negatively correlated with dementia knowledge (r=-.192, p=.017).
4) The fear of dementia among middle-aged and elderly was affected by perceived severity (β=.46, p<.001), followed by perceived barrier (β=.20, p=.004) and perceived susceptibility (β=.17, p=.023). The explanatory power by the factors was 47.8% (F=48.38, p<.001).
Conclusion, the significant predictors of fear of dementia among middle-aged and elderly were perceived severity, perceived barrier, and perceived susceptibility. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a strategic nursing intervention to increase perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, and to decrease perceived barrier to dementia by evaluating dementia health beliefs in order to manage fear of dementia among middle-aged and elderly.