Information Sheet

Australian GPs Knowledge of Dementia Risk Factors Study

You have been invited to participate in a study evaluating knowledge of dementia risk factors amongst General Practitioners (GPs) in Australia

1. What is the purpose of this study?
To determine knowledge of dementia risk factors amongst GPs who are currently practising in Australia.

2. How long will it take?
It will take 5 -10 minutes to complete.

3. Why have I been invited to participate in this study?
You are eligible to participate in this study because you are a GP practising in Australia.

4. Who is involved in the study?
Dr Katharine Salmon (GP), Jenny Tung Yu Lau (medical student at University of Tasmania) and Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre academic staff: Jane Alty (Chief Investigator), Kathleen Doherty, Aidan Bindoff, and James Vickers.

5. What does the study involve?
This study involves completing a short online questionnaire. This questionnaire has been designed to assess GPs knowledge of dementia. Your data will be non-identifiable and is not traceable.

Please answer all questions to the best of your knowledge. Please DO NOT refer to any printed, online, or other information about dementia while you are completing the survey.

Your involvement in this study is voluntary. By completing and submitting the survey you are consenting to its use in medical publications. If you do decide to withdraw from the study and clear your survey contents, please be aware that your data will not be saved as a part of the withdrawal process.

6. What am I consenting to?
At the start of the questionnaire you will be asked to tick a box to confirm that you consent to participating in the research study. If you press ‘submit’ at the end of the questionnaire we will store and analyse your non-identifiable responses, and use these results to publish the study. If you decide to withdraw from the study before completing the questionnaire, or before pressing submit at the end, or by pressing ‘ exit and clear survey’ your data will not be stored or analysed. If you decide to withdraw your consent after submitting your responses please be aware that since your data is non-identifiable, it will be unable to be retracted. All data will be kept in password-protected computer files in the offices of the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre for a period of five years after publication, then destroyed.

7. Are there any possible benefits from participation in this study?
Through undertaking this questionnaire, you may benefit by reflecting on your dementia knowledge. Your participation will also help improve the quality of dementia education for medical students and GPs in the future.

8. Are there any possible risks from participation in this study?
There are no specific risks anticipated.

9. What if I have specific questions about this research?
If you would like to discuss any aspect of this study, please feel free to contact Dr Jane Alty on jane.alty@utas.edu.au.

10. What if I have any concerns or complaints about this research?
This study has been approved by the Tasmania Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.  If you have concerns or complaints about the conduct of this study, you can contact the Executive Officer of the HREC (Tasmania) Network on (03) 6226 2975 or email ss.ethics@utas.edu.au   The Executive Officer is the person nominate to receive complaints from research participants.  You will need to quote H0018443.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this study.
If you wish to take part in this study, please complete the online questionnaire here.