Exploring Knowledge and Awareness of Lewy body dementia among Staff in Long-Term Care Facilities

We developed an anonymous, self-reported online survey using survey monkey to assess healthcare staff knowledge, attitudes, and perceived practices (KAP) related to the care and support of residents with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) in Long Term facilities (LTC) facilities. The questions utilised in this survey were adapted from analogous studies and surveys with modifications made to ensure relevance.
The survey consisted of three sections:
Section 1. Demographic information
Section 2. Knowledge of LBD: this section consisted of three statements and seven questions about LBD, including symptom recognition and LBD diagnostic criteria. Response options were: ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’; or ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Additionally, respondents were asked to rate their perceived level of knowledge of LBD on a scale from 1-10, with 1 indicating that they felt they had a very low level of knowledge of LBD and 10 indicating excellent knowledge of LBD. We also included an open-ended question asking participants to name any other forms of dementia that they knew of besides Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Section 3. Attitudes towards caring for people with LBD: this section consisted of five statements relating to job satisfaction, confidence levels, and willingness to engage in further training. Respondents were asked to rate their agreement to the statement on a five-level Likert scale, ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. Response options to the statement “if training specific for dementia with Lewy bodies was offered to me I would sign up” were “yes”, “no” and “not sure”.
Prior to distribution, the survey underwent a pilot phase with n=13 respondents and was revised based on feedback before wider distribution. Once finalised, the survey was disseminated to LTC staff working in Ireland. The survey was disseminated online between March and July 2024 via email and social media circulation, as well as through in-person data collection within LTC facilities. Participation was voluntary, and respondents were encouraged to share the survey with their colleagues. LTC staff of all grades were eligible to complete the survey. Only participants over the age of 18 and currently employed as a staff member of an Irish LTC home were eligible to take part. Participants could be from any part of the Republic of Ireland.
Data analysis:
Descriptive statistics were conducted using StataNow/SE 18.5. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for continuous variables, while frequencies were calculated for categorical variables. The resulting composite knowledge scores were analysed using mean and standard deviation to characterise overall knowledge levels among respondents. A one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey test was also performed to determine statistical differences in the composite score based on job role.

本研究采用在线调查工具SurveyMonkey开发了一份匿名自报式调查问卷，用于评估医疗工作人员针对长期照护（Long Term facilities, LTC）机构内路易体痴呆（Lewy Body Dementia, LBD）患者照护与支持相关的知识、态度及感知实践（Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceived Practices, KAP）水平。本问卷所使用的题目改编自同类研究与调查问卷，并经过针对性调整以确保其契合研究主题。

本次调查共分为三个部分：
1. 人口统计学信息
2. 路易体痴呆相关知识：本部分包含3条陈述与7道关于路易体痴呆的问题，涵盖症状识别与路易体痴呆诊断标准。回答选项设置为“同意”或“不同意”，亦或“是”或“否”。此外，要求受访者对自身路易体痴呆知识掌握水平进行1-10分的自评，其中1分代表自认为对路易体痴呆知识掌握程度极低，10分代表掌握程度极佳。本部分同时增设一道开放式问题，要求参与者列举除阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer's Disease, AD）之外其知晓的其他痴呆类型。
3. 路易体痴呆患者照护态度：本部分包含5条与工作满意度、信心水平及参与进一步培训意愿相关的陈述。受访者需采用李克特5级计分法对各陈述的同意程度进行评分，计分范围从“完全不同意”至“完全同意”。针对“若有针对路易体痴呆的专项培训可供选择，我会报名参加”这一表述，回答选项设置为“是”“否”与“不确定”。

正式发放前，本问卷先开展了n=13名受访者参与的预调研阶段，并根据反馈意见进行修订后再进行大范围发放。问卷定稿后，发放给爱尔兰境内的长期照护机构工作人员。本问卷于2024年3月至7月期间通过电子邮件、社交媒体传播，以及在长期照护机构内开展的线下数据收集方式进行线上与线下发放。参与调查为自愿行为，同时鼓励受访者将问卷分享给同事。所有职级的长期照护机构工作人员均可参与本调查。仅年满18周岁且目前受雇于爱尔兰长期照护机构的在职人员方可参与。参与者可来自爱尔兰共和国的任意地区。

数据分析：
本研究采用StataNow/SE 18.5软件进行描述性统计分析。对于连续变量计算均值与标准差，分类变量则计算频次。针对生成的综合知识得分，通过均值与标准差对受访者的整体知识水平进行表征分析。此外，采用单因素方差分析（One-way ANOVA）与事后Tukey检验，基于工作岗位分析综合知识得分是否存在统计学差异。