Older adults' attitudes and motivations towards learning about personal dementia risk and their willingness to make changes to improve their health in primary care settings

ObjectiveThis study assessed older adults' preferences, attitudes, and motivations to understand and change their individual risk for developing dementia via screening in primary care settings.MethodEighty-six community-dwelling older adults (aged 60-91 years, M = 74.03, SD = 6.83) completed measures of behavioural intent to undergo dementia risk screening, response efficacy (i.e., belief that screening is useful), negative affective responses (e.g., risk screening results making individuals more scared about the future), motivation to change risk-related behaviours, level of social support, depression, and anxiety symptomatology.ResultsOverall, participants reported positive attitudes towards dementia risk screening and risk reduction. Two ordinal logistic regressions indicated that response efficacy was a significant predictor of behavioural intent to undergo dementia risk screening, whereas self-efficacy and family history of dementia were significant predictors of motivation to change risk-related behaviours. Barriers included lack of information, motivation, and self-control. Facilitators included access to formal and informal supports, and engagement with social and non-social activities.ConclusionsDementia risk screening and risk reduction in primary care may be more desirable for those with a family history of dementia, high response efficacy, and high self-efficacy. Addressing barriers such as lack of information, motivation, and self-control may improve older adults' engagement with dementia risk reduction. What is already known about this topic:Lifestyle factors can be modified to reduce dementia risk; however, an understanding of the role of motivation to change these behaviours is limited.Age, sex, family history of dementia, and dementia carer experience have been linked to motivation to reduce dementia risk.There is very limited understanding of people's behavioural intent to undergo dementia risk screening in primary care.What this topic adds:Overall, older adults had positive attitudes towards dementia risk screening and risk reduction in primary care settings, and screening results mostly did not induce fear about the future.Response efficacy was a significant predictor of behavioural intent to undergo dementia risk screening, whereas self-efficacy and family history of dementia were significant predictors of motivation to change risk-related behaviours.Barriers to behaviour change were lack of information, motivation, and self-control. Facilitators were formal and informal supports, and social and non-social activities.

Automated summary

This study assessed older adults' preferences, attitudes, and motivations towards understanding and changing their individual risk for dementia, via screening in primary care settings. The results showed that older adults generally had positive attitudes towards dementia risk screening and risk reduction. Response efficacy, self-efficacy, and family history of dementia were found to be significant predictors of behavioral intent to undergo screening and motivation to change risk-related behaviors. Barriers included lack of information, motivation, and self-control, while access to support and engagement in social and non-social activities were identified as facilitators.