{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T18:07:08Z","timestamp":1780337228492,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100020202","name":"UCD Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100020202","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Alzheimer\u2019s disease represents one of the greatest healthcare challenges of the 21st century due to the aging population and its impact on the quality of life of patients and their families. Preparing future healthcare professionals to address this condition is crucial.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Aims<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This article analyzes the level of knowledge about Alzheimer\u2019s disease held by university students in medicine, nursing, and psychology, highlighting the differences and similarities between disciplines and proposing strategies to improve training in this field.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 1,023 Ecuadorian students: nursing (n\u2009=\u2009727, 71.1%), medicine (n\u2009=\u2009170, 16.6%), and psychology (n\u2009=\u2009126, 12.3%). Participants completed the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and a demographic survey. The percentage of correct answers on the ADKS was used to assess knowledge levels.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The overall percentage of correct answers was 54.68%, indicating a limited level of knowledge. Medical students obtained the highest mean score (17.44 [SD: 2.864]), followed by psychology (16.28 [SD: 2.348]) and nursing (16.18 [SD: 2.649]). A weak but significant correlation was found between knowledge level and prior contact with people with dementia (P\u2009&lt;\u20090.001).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Students across all disciplines demonstrated a broad knowledge gap regarding Alzheimer\u2019s disease, although medical students obtained slightly higher scores than psychology and nursing students. The findings highlight the need for improved educational training and curriculum development to enhance dementia knowledge, especially in psychology and nursing programs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0350624","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T17:30:21Z","timestamp":1780335021000},"page":"e0350624","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Knowledge about Alzheimer\u2019s disease in medical, nursing, and psychology students in Ecuador: A problem that needs an urgent solution"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Jos\u00e9 Alejandro","family":"Valdevila Figueira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9624-5824","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mar\u00eda Alejandra Espinoza de los","family":"Monteros Andrade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xavier Rodrigo","family":"Yambay-Bautista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-3493-6519","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Andr\u00e9s","family":"Ram\u00edrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Indira Dayana","family":"Carvajal Parra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roc\u00edo","family":"Valdevila Santiesteban","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9","family":"Pico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8217-0238","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jose A.","family":"Rodas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0350624.ref001","first-page":"21","article-title":"Prevalencia, factores de riesgo e impacto de la demencia en la Rep\u00fablica Dominicana: El estudio poblacional 10\/66","volume":"69","author":"D Acosta","year":"2023","journal-title":"AULA Rev Humanidades Cienc Soc"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0350624.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1080\/07317115.2022.2054391","article-title":"Inequitable access to dementia diagnosis and care in low-resource settings - a global perspective","volume":"46","author":"K Seeher","year":"2023","journal-title":"Clin Gerontol"},{"key":"pone.0350624.ref003","unstructured":"World Health Organization. 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