A substantial portion of the public in all five countries believes a reliable test is available to determine if a person suffering from confusion and memory loss is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Only in one country did experience with a family member alter beliefs about the current availability of a reliable test. Belief increased from 44% with no family experience to 56% among those with direct experience in Spain. In all other countries, there was no significant difference between the two groups.
3.5. Interest in Future Early Diagnostic Testing for the Disease, Should Such a Test Become Available
There is substantial public interest in early diagnostic testing. There was no difference in any country based on personal experience with a family member in the proportion that said they were very likely to take a diagnostic test without symptoms.
3.6. Beliefs about Whether Alzheimer Is a Fatal Disease
Large numbers do not believe Alzheimer is a fatal disease. Experience with a family member increased the belief that Alzheimer was a fatal disease in three countries—France, Poland, and Spain. It did not in Germany and the US.
3.7. Awareness of Common Symptoms That Were Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease
There is general agreement on some symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, disagreement on others. As shown in Table 3, experience with a family member does not change perceptions of most symptoms across countries. Experience with Alzheimer’s disease had no impact on beliefs about three symptoms—hallucinations, problems with pain, and difficulty managing and paying bills.
In three or more countries, experience with a family member affected beliefs about confusion and disorientation, difficulty managing daily tasks, and anger and violence. In each of these cases, experience with a family member increased the belief that these were common symptoms of the disease. In Poland, beliefs about two other symptoms were affected by family experience with the disease. Those who had experience with a family member were more likely than those without experience to believe wandering and getting lost was a common symptom. On the other hand, those who had experience with a family member were less likely than those without experience to believe that difficulty remembering things in their life from years before was a common symptom.
In the US, the belief that difficulty remembering things in their life from the day before was a common symptom was increased by experience with a family member.
3.8. Attitudes about Government Spending on Alzheimer’s Research and Care
As shown in Table 4, majorities of the public in all five countries favor increased government spending on research on new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and on caring for people who have the disease. In two countries—Germany and Poland—those who had experience with a family member were more likely than those without family experience to favor increased government spending on research on new treatments. Only in Poland, those with family experience were also more likely to favor increased spending on caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease.