Knowledge, awareness, and practice of undergraduate medical students on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in Oman

BACKGROUND: Dementia is an acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, which accounts for 60% to 70% of cases. There are no accurate statistics yet on the percentage of Alzheimer’s patients in Oman, and it is expected that the number of patients with this disease will increase. Medical students are exposed to different aspects of Alzheimer’s disease very late in their medical curriculum. Early exposure to the disease will increase the level of awareness and interest in the disease. The study might also help in the curricular changes in terms of integration of Dementia-related topics in neurobiology and other relevant preclinical courses. To assess first-year medical students’ knowledge and attitude toward Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among first-year students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, National University, Oman, after getting their consent. The sociodemographic data will be collected from the students initially. We also adapted components from the published and previously tested Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale, the Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Scale, and the Dementia Attitudes Scale, in addition to incorporating questions to specifically assess the local practices related to management of the disease. RESULTS: 127 students participated in the study. 82.7% were females ( n = 105), and 17.3% ( n = 22) were males. The average age of participants was 19.30 years (SD = 0.769). In our sample, 54.4% of the respondents had correctly identified that loss of memory and forgetting names, appointments, and task repetition in the elderly need medical attention. Approximately half of the students, 47.6%, disagreed that Alzheimer’s disease could be caused by black magic or evil eye. As a whole, 53.1% of participants were against hiding diagnoses and advocated for transparency. On the other hand, 73.4% of participants expressed strong disapproval of socially isolating Alzheimer’s disease patients to prevent them from experiencing personal embarrassment. 56.7% of the students acknowledged the possibility that certain foods, such as fish, leafy greens, and berries, could reduce the chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. There is a moderate tendency toward belief in the existence of traditional remedies in Oman (45.3%), according to the data, which indicate that there is a mixed assessment of the availability of traditional remedies in Oman. CONCLUSION: The study indicates a well-informed understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia within the studied community, especially concerning dietary influences and the possibilities of medicinal interventions. The divergent opinions on standard and alternative medicines suggest that additional education and study could be advantageous. As Alzheimer’s disease research progresses, continuous public education initiatives will be essential to align attitudes with the most recent scientific findings and accessible treatment alternatives.