title: The Public's ability to recognize Alzheimer disease and their beliefs about its causes.
abstract: The authors report how the population identifies symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) and the causes attributed to this disorder in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A total of 500 household residents aged 18 years and above were examined in a cross-sectional design, in São Paulo. Instruments were a case vignette depicting AD and a structured questionnaire. The symptoms of AD were identified by 46.4% as memory loss. The term AD was used in only 4% of the responses, although 39.4% of the respondents believed it was a mental illness. The main causes attributed were of psychosocial in nature: "drug use" and "isolation." Factors most influencing responses about causes were marital status, level of education, and economic status. In summary, medical-scientific concepts are not usually used in São Paulo. Causal attributions show that the laypersons' beliefs have important differences from the results of scientific evidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. blay@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Sergio Luís
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Blay
authors.forename: Erica de Toledo
authors.initials: Ede T
authors.lastname: Piza Peluso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice; D011639:Public Opinion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires