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. 2022 Aug 6;19(15):9705.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159705.

Ethnic Differences in Attitudes and Preventive Behaviors Related to Alzheimer's Disease in the Israeli Survey of Aging

Efrat Neter  1 , Svetlana Chachashvili-Bolotin  2
Affiliations

Ethnic Differences in Attitudes and Preventive Behaviors Related to Alzheimer's Disease in the Israeli Survey of Aging

Efrat Neter et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: To examine ethnic differences in attitudes and preventive behaviors related to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in Israel.

Methods: A household representative sample included 1198 older adults (M age = 70.78, SD = 9.64) who participated in the Israeli branch of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel), collected during 2015 and 2017. Descriptions of the groups (long term Israeli Jews (LTIJ), immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Palestinian Citizens of Israel (PCI)) were computed, and hierarchical regressions tested whether group differences were maintained after controlling for demographic, human and economic resources, Internet use, and AD familiarity.

Results: Attitudes towards AD were the most negative among FSU and more accepting among PCI while AD-related preventive behaviors were highest among FSU, lowest among PCI, with LTIJ between them. After including demographic, human and economic resources, and familiarity with AD, differences in AD-preventive behaviors significantly decreased. In contrast, differences in attitudes among the groups remained stable even after other variables were accounted for, so that PCI were the most accepting and FSU manifested greatest avoidance of contact with persons with AD.

Conclusions: The findings provide directions for culturally sensitive psycho-educational and other interventions for both the public and healthcare providers.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; attitudes; ethnicity; health behaviors; immigration; internet use.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure A1
Figure A1
Direct acyclic graphs (DAG) of the relationship between the study variables.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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