58% of Citizens Have Never Heard of Mild Cognitive Impairment... "Urgent Need for Awareness Improvement"

The Korean Dementia Association Holds 20th Anniversary Press Conference on the 19th
Announces Results of 'Nationwide Survey on Public Awareness of Mild Cognitive Impairment'

On the 19th, the Korean Dementia Association's 20th anniversary press conference was held at the Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. From the left, Jae-sung Lim, Public Relations Director of the Korean Dementia Association; Dong-won Yang, Chairman; Ki-hyung Park, Planning Director; and Ho-jin Choi, Policy Director.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Six out of ten Koreans are unaware of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition with a high risk of progressing to dementia. The Korean Dementia Association emphasized the importance of raising awareness about MCI and early management.

On the 19th, the Korean Dementia Association held a press conference commemorating its 20th anniversary and announced the results of a perception survey on this topic. The survey was conducted over three days from the 29th to the 31st of last month, targeting 1,006 adults nationwide across 17 cities and provinces.

The survey results showed that 58.0% of respondents had never heard of mild cognitive impairment. This means that six out of ten respondents were unaware of the term MCI. Among the 41.3% who said they had heard of MCI, only 12.0% responded that they knew it well. Meanwhile, 52.3% said they knew a little but not in detail, and 35.7% said they had only heard the term.

Awareness of the connection between MCI and dementia prevention was also low. When asked if they had heard that "MCI is an important stage for preventing dementia," 73.0% said they had not. However, 77.0% expressed willingness to visit a hospital for an MCI diagnosis if they or their family members felt their memory had declined compared to before.

Park Ki-hyung, Planning Director of the Korean Dementia Association and Professor of Neurology at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, who presented the survey, said, "If we improve public awareness, we may be able to diagnose and identify MCI patients much more effectively and earlier, providing them with opportunities for future treatment."

Park also expressed concern that 10.8% of respondents associated MCI with "having a disability (disabled person)." In the same question, "cognitive impairment" (23.3%) and "dementia" (20.4%) were the first and second most mentioned, with "having a disability" ranking third at 10.8%.

Awareness of the necessity of PET scans for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease-related MCI was also low. A high 87.5% of respondents said they had never heard that amyloid PET scans are necessary. Park advised, "It is necessary to raise awareness about this (PET scan) to make it more accessible and encourage people to visit hospitals."

At the conference, the need for management and support starting from MCI before dementia was emphasized. Yang Dong-won, Chairman of the Korean Dementia Association, said, "Although it is called 'mild' cognitive impairment, it is not actually 'mild.' It is more difficult to diagnose than actual dementia, and it is a stage where we need to consider how the disease will progress and what treatments are better, so much attention and introduction of treatments are required."

Choi Ho-jin, Policy Director of the Korean Dementia Association, explained, "The management cost for late-stage dementia patients is about twice that of early-stage patients due to increased facility admission costs and medical and caregiving expenses caused by complications." He added, "Building infrastructure to allow patients to live in the community during the mild stage can significantly reduce costs."

Choi proposed the policy direction of "realizing a dementia-friendly society through proactive dementia prevention and management." Specifically, he suggested ▲support for dementia prevention and training of professionals ▲establishment of a public-private joint dementia management system ▲expansion of support for high-risk elderly groups ▲and efforts to foster dementia-related industries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.