Using the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS)
The Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS) is a measure of dementia knowledge which provides summative, item and subscale scores to allow researchers to explore what different individuals and groups understand about the syndrome. The DKAS can be used as a baseline measure or to evaluate knowledge change following education.
The DKAS has undergone a program of extensive pre- and pilot-testing with cohorts of health professionals and lay people. Features of development include a Delphi study with international dementia experts, literature reviews of current dementia research, and pilot testing with a large international cohort. The DKAS has been developed to reflect contemporary and best-evidence information about the condition, including general characteristics, symptoms, risk factors, care, and treatment. The DKAS is appropriate for use by health professionals, students, family caregivers, and the general public.
Work on the DKAS is ongoing and the most up-to-date version of the measure will be available by contacting the team. Recent development work has included the confirmation of four subscales and establishment of definitive construct validity using an international population of respondents. The tool has been translated into a number of other languages:
- Traditional Chinese by researchers from Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan: Dr Huei-Chuan Sung, RN, Director & Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Long-term Care, Hsin-Feng Su, RN, Lecturer, Department of Nursing, & PhD student, Institute of Medical Sciences and Hsiu-Mei Wang, RN, PhD student, Institute of Medical Sciences.
- Spanish by Lic. Zoylen Fernández Fleites, Dr. Yunier Broche-Pérez and MSc Elizabeth Jiménez Puig from Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas, Cuba.
- Simplified Chinese by Yayi ZAHO, PhD student and Dr. Helen Y.L. CHAN, associate professor, RN, PhD, from the Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
- Greek by Constantina Demosthenous, Registered Clinical Psychologist, Ph.D. candidate, Center for Applied Neuroscience and Fofi Constantinidou, Ph.D., CCC-S, CBIS, Professor of Language Disorders and Clinical Neuropsychology & Director of Center for Applied Neuroscience, from the University of Cyprus.
- Italian by Carloa Guaia, National Ageing Research Institute, COASIT translator from Co.As.It Sydney, Silvia Teani, NAATI, and Josefine Antoniiades, National Ageing Research Institute.
- Turkish by Dr. Merve Aliye Akyol (RN, PhD), Associate Professor Burcu Akpinar Sӧylemez (RN, PhD) and Professor Özlem Kücükgüclü (RN, PhD), from the Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Nursing, Department of Internal Medicine Nursing, İzmir, Turkey); and Assistant Professor Seher Gӧnen Şentürk (RN, PhD) from the Çankırı Karatekin University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine Nursing, Çankırı, Turkey.
- Sinhala by Dr Sarath Rathnayake (RN, BSC N (hons), MScN (Res), PhD), University of Pardeniya, Sri Lanka and Ms Thilanka Jagoda (RN, RM, BScN (Hons), MScN), University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
- German by researchers from Cantonal Hospital Winterthur (Switzerland): Sabine Krause, CCRN, RN, MScN; Silvia Graf, RN, MScN; Dr Cornelia Lips RN, MScN, PhD; and Rita Müller CCRN, RN, MScN.
- Persian by researchers from Tehran, Iran: Omid Gheisvandi, Students’ Scientific Research Centre (SSRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences; Associate Professor Farnaz Etesam, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Ziaeian Hospital and Department of Psychiatry, Tehran University 0f Medical Sciences, Imam Khomeini Hospital; Associate Professor Zahra Vahabi; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Ziaeian Hospital and Department of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Roozbeh Hospital and Dr Zahra Hooshyari, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Ziaeian Hospital and Virtual School of Medical Education and Management, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.
- Vietnamese by Dai Xuan Dinh (MSc, Hanoi University of Pharmacy), Huong Thi Thanh Nguyen (Assoc. Prof., Hanoi University of Pharmacy), Tuan Van Nguyen (Assoc. Prof., Hanoi Medical University), and Van Minh Nguyen (MSc, Hanoi University of Public Health).
- Arabic by Mazen Alhaj Ahmad, Shahem Alhaj Ahmad, Kareem Mustafa, Mohammed Al-Kubaisi, Lamees Amir Mohamedali, Abdulla Habib, and Hussein Huwaijah, from the University of Sharjah, College of Medicine, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
If you would like to access the DKAS, publications relating to its development and validation, or translated versions listed above, these are available free of charge by emailing the DKAS development team at Claire.Eccleston@utas.edu.au.
