Table of Contents
Abstract
The Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS) is a contemporary psychometric instrument designed to evaluate an individual's understanding of dementia. As the global population ages and the prevalence of neurocognitive disorders accelerates, ensuring that healthcare providers, family members, and the general public possess accurate information about dementia has become a critical public health priority. This scale was meticulously engineered to capture a broad spectrum of knowledge, moving beyond the limitations of older tools that often focused exclusively on Alzheimer's disease or suffered from ceiling effects among highly educated respondents.
The development of the DKAS was a rigorous, multi-phase endeavor that integrated expert consensus with extensive empirical testing. Researchers utilized a Delphi methodology with international experts to establish foundational content, followed by iterative pilot testing across diverse cohorts, including medical Students, aged care workers, and thousands of participants in a massive open online course (MOOC). This comprehensive approach ensured that the resulting items were not only scientifically accurate but also comprehensible to individuals with varying levels of health literacy.
Ultimately, the DKAS serves as a vital resource for both researchers and educators. By providing a reliable metric for baseline dementia knowledge, the instrument allows for the targeted design of educational interventions. Furthermore, its sensitivity to change makes it an excellent tool for evaluating the efficacy of training programs aimed at improving the quality of care and support provided to individuals living with dementia.
📊 Psychometric Scorecard
27
Multidimensional
Authors
Purpose
The primary objective behind the creation of the DKAS was to address significant methodological and practical gaps in the existing landscape of dementia knowledge measurement. Historically, instruments in this domain have been constrained by narrow developmental samples, a disproportionate emphasis on biomedical paradigms at the expense of person-centered care, and simplistic true/false response formats that fail to capture nuanced understanding. These legacy tools often struggled to differentiate knowledge levels among Healthcare professionals due to pronounced ceiling effects.
By introducing a robust, contemporary measure, the developers aimed to provide a versatile tool capable of evaluating knowledge across a wide spectrum of respondents—from lay Caregivers to advanced medical practitioners. The DKAS is specifically designed to assess baseline understanding, identify critical knowledge deficits, and measure cognitive shifts following targeted educational interventions, thereby directly supporting the World Health Organization's mandate for improved global dementia education.
Construct
Dementia knowledge, as operationalized by the DKAS, is a multidimensional construct that encompasses both the clinical realities of the syndrome and the humanistic elements of caregiving. Rather than treating dementia as a singular biological phenomenon, the scale's theoretical framework acknowledges that true literacy in this area requires an understanding of etiology, symptomatology, diagnostic procedures, and evidence-based care strategies.
The construct bridges the gap between the biomedical model—which focuses on disease pathology, progression, and pharmacological management—and the person-centered care model, which emphasizes communication, behavioral engagement, and quality of life. By integrating these domains, the scale provides a holistic assessment of what an individual knows about dementia, ensuring that the measurement aligns with modern, comprehensive approaches to geriatric care.
Validity
To ensure the instrument accurately measures dementia knowledge, the research team subjected the DKAS to a battery of validity checks. Content validity was initially secured through a rigorous Delphi consensus process involving international experts, ensuring that all retained items reflected current, uncontested scientific evidence. Items that were deemed ambiguous or scientifically debatable during the literature review were systematically eliminated.
The scale's construct validity was powerfully demonstrated through its sensitivity to educational interventions. By administering the tool to a large cohort before and after an 11-week online dementia course, researchers observed significant score improvements, proving the scale can effectively track learning outcomes. Additionally, concurrent validity was established by correlating DKAS scores with the legacy Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS), confirming that the new instrument aligns with established criterion standards while offering broader applicability.
Convergent & Discriminant Validation Correlations
| Reference Instrument | Correlation Coefficient (r) |
|---|---|
| Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) |
Reliability
Reliability testing was a cornerstone of the DKAS development process, ensuring that the tool produces stable and consistent results across different contexts. The researchers evaluated internal consistency to confirm that the diverse items within the scale cohesively measure the overarching construct of dementia knowledge. High internal consistency indicates that the items are appropriately correlated and function well together as a unified assessment tool.
Furthermore, the temporal stability of the instrument was verified through test-retest reliability protocols. By administering the scale to a cohort of health workforce professionals on two separate occasions—with no intervening educational instruction—the researchers demonstrated that scores remained stable over a three-week period. This confirms that the DKAS is not overly susceptible to random daily fluctuations and serves as a dependable metric for longitudinal studies.
Factor Analysis
The structural architecture of the DKAS was refined using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) with an oblimin rotation, a statistical approach chosen to uncover the underlying thematic dimensions of the data while allowing for correlations between those dimensions. Starting with a larger pool of candidate items, the researchers evaluated item-total correlations and communality scores, systematically discarding statements that did not fit well within the overall matrix.
The PCA ultimately supported the retention of 27 items, revealing a four-component solution that accounted for 44.2% of the total variance in the dataset. These components represent distinct but interrelated facets of dementia knowledge, such as causes and characteristics, and communication and engagement. The moderate correlations observed between these components strongly support the multidimensional nature of the scale, indicating that while the sub-domains are distinct, they collectively contribute to the broader construct of dementia literacy.
Subscales
| Subscale | Items | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Causes and Characteristics | Evaluates understanding of the biological underpinnings, pathology, and general trajectory of dementia syndromes. | |
| Communication and Engagement | Assesses knowledge regarding effective interaction strategies, behavioral interpretation, and person-centered care principles. |
Instrument
| Test Type | Self-report questionnaire |
| Format | 27 items, 4-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) with an auxiliary 'I don't know' option |
| Scoring | Items are scored based on correctness. The scale includes a balance of positively and negatively phrased statements, requiring reverse scoring for specific items to mitigate response bias. |
| Language | English |
| Population | Adults, Older adults, Healthcare professionals, Nurses, Students, Caregivers |
| Administration | Self-administered online or via paper-and-pencil |
Scoring & Interpretation Guidelines
| Scoring Instructions | The scale contains 10 negatively phrased statements that must be reverse-scored prior to calculating the total knowledge score. |
Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale Items
Items are currently not available
The individual items of this scale are not publicly available. Researchers interested in using this instrument should contact the original authors directly to request the scale materials.
Sample
The pilot testing utilized a diverse sample of 1,767 participants. This included 1,651 volunteers enrolled in a massive open online course (MOOC) spanning 96 countries, 40 final-year medical Students on clinical placement, and 76 members of the Australian health workforce. The sample was predominantly female and captured a wide range of educational backgrounds.
Cite This Paper
Michael J. Annear, Christine M. Toye, Claire E. Eccleston, Frances J. McInerney, Kate-Ellen J. Elliott, Bruce K. Tranter, T. F. Hartley, Andrew L. Robinson (2015). Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13707
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Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/dementia-knowledge-assessment-scale/
Mohammed looti. "Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 14 Aug. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/dementia-knowledge-assessment-scale/.
Mohammed looti. "Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/dementia-knowledge-assessment-scale/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/dementia-knowledge-assessment-scale/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, August, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.