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Reducing the Burden of Dementia in Sub-Saharan Africa Through the Use of Wearable Devices

Ebenezer Larnyo

Statement of the Problem: Dementia affected about 50 million people globally in 2018, making it the seventh leading cause of death according to the World Health Organization. This figure is projected to rise to 131.5 million by 2050 with about 10% of people developing the disorder at some point in their lives and about 9.9 million new cases diagnosed yearly translating into one case every second. In Sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 2.13 million people were living with dementia as of 2015, with numbers projected to nearly double every 20 years, increasing to 3.48 million by 2030 and 7.62 million by 2050. This translates into over 367,000 new cases of dementia in a year in the region. As dementia is becoming more common and prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, its burden on family carers and healthcare stakeholders is inevitable. Thus, there is the need for increase in both the quality and variety of healthcare services offered to these patients. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Using Partial Least Squares based on structural equation modeling, this study analyzed 350 proxy re- sponses of dementia caregivers who have either dealt previously with or were currently taking care of patients with dementia to determine the factors that influence the adoption of healthcare wearable among these patients and how these factors help in reducing the burden of the disease in the region. Findings: The results of the study revealed that social influence, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and behavioral intention significantly influence the actual use of healthcare wearable devices among patients with dementia with p-values of 0.05 and predictive accuracy of predictive accuracy of 70.7%. Conclusion & Significance: This study offers researchers important insights into analyzing acceptance behavior of dementia patients in developing countries and also suggests the need to invest more into the adoption of these devices for patients with dementia in order to help reduce the costly nature of dementia care for all stakeholders.