General practitioners’ practices and training needs in dementia care: a comparison of urban and rural areas in Kazakhstan

Byltash S. Brimzhanova M. Yeshmanova A. Akhmetzhan A. Kosherbayeva L.
2026 Routledge

Aging and Mental Health
2026 #30 Issue 2 277 - 286 pp.

Objectives: The aim is to compare the General Practitioners’ (GPs) Knowledge, Practices, and Perceptions regarding early diagnosis and management between urban and rural areas. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024–2025 using a structured questionnaire in Kazakh and Russian. Data were collected anonymously via Google Forms with support from local health authorities. To reach the minimum sample size of 384 physicians, two reminder notifications were sent to aid recruitment. The questionnaire was reliable (Cronbach’s alpha 0.918). Data were analyzed using chi-squared tests (p < 0.05). Results: The survey included 789 GPs, with 402 from urban and 387 rural areas. Rural GPs were less likely to consider early diagnosis valuable compared to urban GPs. Rural GPs noted greater challenges with caregiver support, including psychological difficulties (p = 0.032) and financial issues (p = 0.045), along with a lack of institutional resources (p = 0.045). Both urban and rural GPs expressed a need for additional dementia training (74.9%, p = 0.068), with rural GPs preferring practical and seminar-based formats over online courses. Conclusion: Rural GPs face more challenges in dementia care, contributing to inequlities in service delivery. Thus, targeted interventions, as enhanced training and improved support systems, are essential to address these disparities and better support GPs.

awareness , Dementia , practice , primary care , training

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Public Health Department, Kazakh Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Health Policy and Management Department, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Health Policy and organization Department, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Public Health Department
Health Policy and Management Department
Health Policy and organization Department

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