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Objectives Sleep disturbances increase the risk of dementia; however, there is insufficient information regarding this. We aimed to investigate public knowledge on the relationship between sleep disturbances and dementia, as well as attitudes towards improving sleep quality and obtaining knowledge on dementia.Design and setting A cross-sectional web-based questionnaire was administered between May and October 2019.Participants All participants provided informed consent and were able to respond to the survey.Primary outcomes Factors associated with the knowledge that sleep disturbances are risk factors for dementia and proportions of individuals with this knowledge; attitudes towards improving sleep quality and obtaining knowledge about dementia.Results Of the 3329 eligible samples, 72.57% correctly recognised that sleep disturbances increased the risk of dementia. In total, 92.97% of participants were willing to take at least one measure to improve sleep quality, and the percentages of those adopting these measures are as follows: 78.73% would lead a regular life, 67.88% would engage in strengthening exercise, 28.84% would undergo psychotherapy and 19.41% would take medication. The awareness regarding sleep disturbances increasing the risk of dementia was the only factor associated with the willingness to improve sleep quality in all four categories of measures. Almost all participants (95.25%) were willing to take at least one measure to acquire knowledge about dementia, with the following participants displaying higher willingness to obtain knowledge about dementia: female, had contact with dementia and considered sleep disturbances to increase the risk of dementia.Conclusions Our findings indicate an association between people’s knowledge and attitudes, suggesting the importance of disseminating knowledge about sleep disturbances and dementia to achieve dementia prevention in future.