High School Students' Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practice of Dementia Care in Macao.

Objective: To investigate knowledge, attitude and preventive practice of dementia care among high school students in Macao.

Methods: Questionnaires was developed and distributed to 10 randomly selected high schools in Macao and 586 valid questionnaires were returned.

Results: Knowledge, attitude and preventive practice of dementia care were 56.27 ± 24.90, 73.97 ± 7.72 and 68.34 ± 14.05. There were positive relationships between preventive practice and attitude, and knowledge. The students of 2 high schools had participated or organized lectures or events related to dementia scored higher knowledge, attitude and preventive practice than those hadn't. Knowledge and attitude of female students were significantly higher than male students. Knowledge and preventive practice of the high school students were significantly lower than primary health professionals in Macao.

Conclusion: Most high school students in Macao had insufficient knowledge and inappropriate preventive practice of dementia care. Enhanced dementia education should be a strong agenda for high school students in Macao.