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General practitioners’ practices and training needs in dementia care: a comparison of urban and rural areas in Kazakhstan
Saltanat Byltash, Marzhan Brimzhanova, Ainur Yeshmanova, Anuar Akhmetzhan, Lyazzat K. Kosherbayeva. Aging & Mental Health, 2025-09-29
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
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.
Key findings
- 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.
Why it matters
This survey found that rural general practitioners in Kazakhstan were less likely to consider early dementia diagnosis valuable and faced more challenges in dementia care compared to urban general practitioners. It does not test a treatment or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants789
- Effect size74.9%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Aging & Mental Health) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Aging & Mental Health: journal h-index 153 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 789 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Lyazzat K. Kosherbayeva: h-index 7 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Al-Farabi Kazakh National University: institution h-index 134 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41020740) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Byltash, S., Brimzhanova, M., Yeshmanova, A., Akhmetzhan, A., & Kosherbayeva, L. K. (2025). General practitioners’ practices and training needs in dementia care: a comparison of urban and rural areas in Kazakhstan. Aging & Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2025.2564720
Vancouver
Byltash S, Brimzhanova M, Yeshmanova A, Akhmetzhan A, Kosherbayeva LK. General practitioners’ practices and training needs in dementia care: a comparison of urban and rural areas in Kazakhstan. Aging & Mental Health. 2025. doi:10.1080/13607863.2025.2564720. PMID: 41020740.
BibTeX
@article{byltash2025-41020740,
author = {Byltash, Saltanat and Brimzhanova, Marzhan and Yeshmanova, Ainur and Akhmetzhan, Anuar and Kosherbayeva, Lyazzat K.},
title = {{General practitioners’ practices and training needs in dementia care: a comparison of urban and rural areas in Kazakhstan}},
journal = {Aging \& Mental Health},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1080/13607863.2025.2564720},
pmid = {41020740},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2025.2564720}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.