An updated measure for investigating basic knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease in underserved rural settings

Abstract

Objective: Older rural adults face a higher burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and delayed detection. This risk is heightened in rural populations that are ethnically diverse. Patients and providers are often hesitant to participate in screening, partially due to gaps in knowledge of the current science. The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of administering the revised version of the Basic Knowledge of Alzheimer's Disease (BKAD) measure in small rural communities in five different states.

Methods: The BKAD measure was revised after first being tested in rural Appalachia. Revisions including eliminating non-discriminating items and adding questions regarding early detection, sleep, head injury, and vision changes. Reliability and validity testing included Cronbach's alpha and Rasch item analysis, test-retest, and predictive validity. Descriptive measures and independent sample t-tests were used to analyze knowledge gaps and sociodemographics.

Results: Tests for reliability and validity were highly favorable, including Cronbach's alpha = .85 and overall Rasch item analysis of .94. Three-fourths of participants knew that annual cognitive screening was recommended for older adults, but only one-fourth had been previously screened. Sociodemographic findings revealed that a majority of participants (86%) would participate in annual memory screening if offered, regardless of education or health literacy level.

Conclusion: The BKAD measure is a good fit for use in rural and underserved populations. BKAD results can inform the design of culturally relevant programs for raising awareness of the importance of early AD detection and treatment.

Keywords:

• Rural
• underserved
• Alzheimer’s disease
• basic knowledge
• early detection

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank Tyler Browning Kirk for his invaluable research assistance throughout all phases of this project.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts or disclosures to report.

Additional information

Funding

The Association of Community Health Nursing Educators helped to support this research.