Recognition, attitudes and causal beliefs regarding dementia in Italian, Greek and Chinese Australians.

Background/aim: To investigate recognition, attitudes and causal beliefs regarding dementia in Italian, Greek and Chinese Australians in comparison with 3rd generation Australians. Little is known about dementia literacy in these racial and ethnic minority groups.

Methods: A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted of 350 Italian, 414 Greek, 437 Chinese and 500 3rd generation Australians randomly selected from the telephone directory.

Results: Third generation participants (85%) were more likely to recognize dementia symptoms in a vignette in comparison to Italian (61%), Greek (58%) and Chinese (72%) participants. Overall, the racial and ethnic minority groups had more negative attitudes about persons with dementia. The racial and ethnic minority groups were more likely to suggest old age and psychosocial risk factors caused dementia, whereas 3rd generation Australians were more likely to suggest brain disease. Differences between ethnic minority and 3rd generation groups remained after controlling for sociodemographic variables. There were differences between Italian, Greek and Chinese participants on markers of acculturation associated with knowledge and beliefs within each group.

Conclusions: Racial and ethnic minority groups have poor dementia literacy in comparison to 3rd generation Australians. There is a need for dementia education targeted to and tailored for these groups.