Nurses’ Awareness of Cognitive Impairment in Individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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Purpose: The number of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who also have cognitive impairment has increased. The purpose was to elucidate nurses’ awareness of patients with comorbid ALS and cognitive impairment.

Methods: We conducted a survey of nurses with experience in supporting individuals with ALS, using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire collected information on the participant characteristics, awareness of the presence of cognitive impairment in ALS, their experience in supporting ALS patients with cognitive impairments, and their educational needs. We used descriptive statistics.

Results: We analyzed 117 questionnaires (response rate: 68.0％). Seventy-one nurses (60.7％) were aware of the cognitive impairments associated with ALS, and had only learned about this within the last one or two years, through their own clinical experience. 55 nurses (43.6％) had current or past experience supporting patients with comorbid cognitive impairment and ALS. Approximately 20％ of whom answered that never had cared for ALS patients diagnosed with cognitive impairment had experience of supporting an ALS patient suspected of having cognitive impairment. More than 80％ of the respondents expressed their wishes to receive recurrent education regarding ALS patients with cognitive impairment.

Conclusions: The nurses in this study did not have a comprehensive understanding of cognitive impairment in ALS. Nurses need to be aware of the overlap in symptoms of ALS and cognitive impairment by receiving training to upgrade their knowledge.