Disclosure of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Caregivers' opinions in a Brazilian sample

Abstract

Background: Disclosure of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a contentious issue, and has been little studied in developing countries. Objective: To investigate the influence of socio-demographic factors and the experience of being a caregiver on opinion about disclosing AD diagnosis to the patient in a Brazilian sample. Method: Caregivers of 50 AD patients together with 50 control participants that did not have the experience of being a caregiver of AD patient were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Results: Most of the participants (73.0%) endorsed disclosure of the diagnosis, while caregivers were less prone to disclose (58.0%) than controls (88.0%; p=0.0007). Logistic regression confirmed that only the experience of being a caregiver was associated with a lesser tendency for disclosure endorsement. Conclusion: The majority of participants was in favor of disclosing the diagnosis, but caregivers were less willing to disclose the diagnosis to the AD patient.