Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud

Community pharmacists and general practitioners have daily contact with patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but the number of positive cases constantly increases every day. Thus, the aim of this research is to describe the level of AD knowledge among community pharmacists and general practitioners in Spain, in order to see where the biggest gaps in the knowledge are. Therefore, a cross-sectional study has been carried out, using the Alzheimer’s disease knowledge survey (ADKS), among members of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Pharmacy to report the differences in AD knowledge in both professional collectives. The ADKS has been responded by 578 community pharmacists and 104 general practitioners and consists of a battery of 30 questions, whose possible answers are true or false. It assesses the AD knowledge in seven areas (impact on the disease, risk factors, course of the disease, diagnosis, care, treatment and symptoms). Results indicate that Spanish pharmacists and general practitioners have a high personal knowledge of AD, nevertheless, it is not associated with greater awareness. Both scored above 80% at the categories: diagnostic, treatment and symptoms. However, lower knowledge level (60% of correct answers) was found in those related to risk factors, such as the ignorance about hypercholesterolemia or hypertension as risk factors for the disease. Community pharmacists are already acting to control cardiovascular risk factors, but a wider knowledge of the relationship of these factors to AD is needed to act against these silent risk factors. Thus, pharmacists may also be involved in the management of AD that includes recognizing early symptoms for early detection of cognitive impairment. Hence, knowledge about risk factors is very important in developing this expanding role.

Introducción: El deterioro cognitivo (DC) es una enfermedad que aumenta con la edad. Es importante conocer los factores protectores y de riesgo de esta enfermedad. Metodología: Estudio observacional realizado a 729 personas mayores de 65 años en 13 farmacias comunitarias durante dos años. Se recogieron datos demográficos (sexo, edad, nivel de estudios) y de estilos de vida (afición a la lectura, realización de pasatiempos, horas de televisión) y para el cribaje de los pacientes se realizaron los test SPMSQ (Short-Portable Mental State Questionaire) de Pfeiffer y Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) versión NORMADERM. También se realizó una revisión bibliográfica del tema. Resultados: Se detectó un 17,6% de DC. Se encontró una asociación estadísticamente significativa como protección frente al DC con la afición a la lectura y el nivel de estudios. No se encontró asociación con las horas de televisión (TV) ni con la realización de pasatiempos. La revisión bibliográfica aportó más factores protectores y de riesgo. Discusión: Con nuestros datos podemos afirmar que tanto la reserva cognitiva (años de estudio) como la estimulación cognitiva (horas de lectura) protegen del DC. Sobre los demás datos obtenidos no se han encontrado coincidencias, por lo que sería necesario aumentar el tamaño muestral para poder realizar una comparación más eficaz. Conclusiones: El nivel educativo bajo es un factor de riesgo de DC, mientras que estudios superiores serían un factor preventivo. La lectura es un factor protector de DC. / Introduction: Cognitive Dysfunction (CD) is a disease that increases with age. It is important to know the protective and risk factors for this disease. Methodology: Observational study carried out on 729 people over 65 years of age in community 13 pharmacies for two years. Demographic data were collected (sex, age, level of studies) and lifestyles (love of reading, hobbies such as crossword puzzles or sudokus etc, TV hours), and the SPMSQ (Short-Portable Mental State Questionaire) test of Pfeiffer and Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE) were carried out to check the patient’s CD. A bibliographic review of the subject was also conducted. Results: 17.6% of CD was detected. A statistically significant association was found as a protection against CD with a love of reading and the level of studies. No association was found with TV hours or hobbies. The literature review provided more protective and risk factors. Discussion: With our data we can affirm that both cognitive reserve (years of study) and cognitive stimulation (hours of reading) protect from CD. No coincidences were found on the other data obtained, so it would be necessary to increase the sample size in order to make a more effective comparison. Conclusions: Low educational level is a risk factor for CD while higher education would be a preventive factor. Reading is a protective factor of CD.