Introduction
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that presented with episodic memory impairment and gradually decreases other cognitive functions.(1) The global prevalence of the disease, which increases twice every 5.5 years, is expected to be 114.5 million in 2050.(2,3) Early recognition of this disease, which has a great socio-economic impact worldwide, is significant in increasing appropriate treatment of dementia and managing it in psychological, emotional, familial, economical terms. However, the perceived stigma against AD is seen as a huge factor in preventing effective strategies for the disease.(4)
Stigma is defined as the negative attitude of the social public towards people who are thought to be different in terms of physical, mental, and lifestyle. People who carry this label are less desired.(5) Patients with memory impairment are known to judge themselves due to their illness and symptoms and experience both social and internalized stigmatization.(6) In addition, family members and caregivers have stigmatization also.(7) Moreover, some people believe that those diagnosed with AD are less fortunate than those with treatable diseases.(5) Understanding the perception of stigma in healthy individuals and educating the society with accessible and effective methods helps to increase disease-related awareness and improve disease management.(8-9)
There is no study evaluating the perceived stigma against AD in healthy people in Turkey to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perceived stigma level against AD in healthy people. Its second aim is to reveal the demographic characteristics and related factors of people with high stigmatization.