Diagnostic Uncertainty Related to Women and Alzheimer s

Statement of the Problem

The problem to be addressed in this study is understanding the challenges doctors face in making an early diagnosis of Alzheimer\\\\\\\'s disease in women. This challenge is relevant as evidence shows that sex differences exist in the etiology and disease course of Alzheimer’s (Waters & Laitner, 2021). Moreover, As Zhou and Zhu (2022) show, women are 1.5x more likely than men to have Alzheimer’s. Understanding the challenges that prevent doctors from making early diagnosis of this disease in women could help in improving predictive models for the disease (Romero-Rosales et al., 2020). Currently, women are at elevated risk of genetic predisposition for Alzheimer’s (Buckley et al., 2019). Yet, doctors continue to struggle to affirm best practices when it comes to making an early diagnosis of this disease in women (Dubois et al., 2021).

Furthermore, Mielke et al. (2022) have found that social and cultural factors may cause gender inequities in Alzheimer’s disease; these same factors may also influence physicians\\\\\\\' perceptions and diagnoses when making an early diagnosis of Alzheimer\\\\\\\'s disease in women (Ben-Joseph et al., 2019). For these reasons, there is a need to know what challenges physicians face with regard to this matter—whether they are social, cultural, communal, or practical (Fancourt et al., 2019).

Stakeholders primarily impacted by this issue are women and their physicians along with healthcare organizations where disease treatment may be given. What is not known that should be known is what challenges physicians face, from their own perspectives, when confronted with the challenge of making an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in women. The potential negative consequences if the problem is not addressed, aside from increased healthcare costs, are that women with Alzheimer\\\\\\\'s may have a lower quality of life due to late-stage diagnosis, whereas early detection could allow for better disease management.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the experiences and attitudes of physicians towards diagnosing Alzheimer\\\\\\\'s disease in women, with a focus on the social and cultural factors that may influence their perceptions and diagnoses. The study will be guided by a theoretical framework consisting of a combination of uncertainty reduction theory (i.e., initial interaction theory), the health belief model, and the social constructionist perspective (Maddux et al., 2019; Sharabi, 2021; Yuen et al., 2021).

The research will be conducted in two stages. First, semi-structured interviews will be carried out with healthcare professionals involved in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer\\\\\\\'s disease. These will focus on their experiences, perceptions, and challenges they encounter when diagnosing women. This will allow for the identification and understanding of constructs related to doctors\\\\\\\' knowledge, biases in healthcare, training, and awareness, and the efficacy of diagnostic tools.

The second stage involves the triangulation of data. Instead of relying on medical records, the study will seek to corroborate findings through focus group discussions among healthcare professionals and, if ethical considerations allow, conversations with families of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer\\\\\\\'s disease. These discussions provide an alternative perspective, and combined with the initial interviews, will strengthen the validity of the findings.