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Dementia knowledge among physiotherapists in Nigeria

Dementia knowledge among physiotherapists in Nigeria
Dementia knowledge among physiotherapists in Nigeria
Background With the growing population of older adults in Nigeria comes a simultaneous rise in the incidence of dementia in the country. Adequate knowledge of dementia is needed to effectively administer interventions for persons living with dementia. Physiotherapy is one of the professions providing care for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of dementia among physiotherapists in Nigeria. Methods An online survey method was used to collect data from the sample population of practicing physiotherapists in Nigeria. Data was collected using the 21-item Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool Version Two (DKAT2) and the respondents also provided some demographic information. Mann Whitney test, Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman's rho correlation were used to test for association between the DKAT2 scores and the demographic variables and this association was further explored with multiple linear regression analysis. Results A total number of 223 physiotherapists participated in this study. The findings of the study show that there is limited knowledge of dementia among the physiotherapists. Number of years of professional experience and specialty groups predicted significantly higher knowledge scores. Conclusion The knowledge deficits found among physiotherapists in Nigeria indicate that older adults living with dementia might not be receiving the best evidence-based physiotherapy treatments for their condition. This research therefore advocates for an educational intervention to be carried out within the physiotherapy profession in order to improve the quality of services rendered to their patients.
Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa, ageing, dementia, knowledge, physiotherapy
1471-3012
378–389
Onyekwuluje, Chisom
d366e34d-375c-4100-b98e-50559013166c
Willis, Rosalind
dd2e5e10-58bf-44ca-9c04-f355f3af26ba
Obgueche, Chukwudi
a95f4c7e-8c71-43b8-bab3-36bda9eb679b
Onyekwuluje, Chisom
d366e34d-375c-4100-b98e-50559013166c
Willis, Rosalind
dd2e5e10-58bf-44ca-9c04-f355f3af26ba
Obgueche, Chukwudi
a95f4c7e-8c71-43b8-bab3-36bda9eb679b

Onyekwuluje, Chisom, Willis, Rosalind and Obgueche, Chukwudi (2023) Dementia knowledge among physiotherapists in Nigeria. Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 22 (2), 378–389. (doi:10.1177/14713012221148780).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background With the growing population of older adults in Nigeria comes a simultaneous rise in the incidence of dementia in the country. Adequate knowledge of dementia is needed to effectively administer interventions for persons living with dementia. Physiotherapy is one of the professions providing care for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of dementia among physiotherapists in Nigeria. Methods An online survey method was used to collect data from the sample population of practicing physiotherapists in Nigeria. Data was collected using the 21-item Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool Version Two (DKAT2) and the respondents also provided some demographic information. Mann Whitney test, Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman's rho correlation were used to test for association between the DKAT2 scores and the demographic variables and this association was further explored with multiple linear regression analysis. Results A total number of 223 physiotherapists participated in this study. The findings of the study show that there is limited knowledge of dementia among the physiotherapists. Number of years of professional experience and specialty groups predicted significantly higher knowledge scores. Conclusion The knowledge deficits found among physiotherapists in Nigeria indicate that older adults living with dementia might not be receiving the best evidence-based physiotherapy treatments for their condition. This research therefore advocates for an educational intervention to be carried out within the physiotherapy profession in order to improve the quality of services rendered to their patients.

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Accepted/In Press date: 16 December 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 December 2022
Published date: 1 February 2023
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.
Keywords: Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa, ageing, dementia, knowledge, physiotherapy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 473356
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/473356
ISSN: 1471-3012
PURE UUID: 153d1aa9-e070-453c-9e01-152dae6a43ae
ORCID for Rosalind Willis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6687-5799

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Date deposited: 16 Jan 2023 17:56
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:48

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Contributors

Author: Chisom Onyekwuluje
Author: Rosalind Willis ORCID iD
Author: Chukwudi Obgueche

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