Chua Melvin P W, Tan Chay Hoon, Merchant Reshma, Soiza Roy L
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore.
Ann Acad Med Singap. 2008 Nov;37(11):947-51.
Training of future physicians in the care of elderly patients will need to evolve in accordance with the exponential increase of elderly patients, but some may have preconceived attitudes affecting their management. This study determined medical students' attitudes towards older people and their willingness to consider a career in Geriatric Medicine.
All 250 first-year medical students, prior to any formal clinical exposure at the National University of Singapore School of Medicine, were asked to participate voluntarily in the study based on the UCLA Geriatrics Attitudes Scale. The 14-item questionnaire consisted of a mixture of positively and negatively worded questions answered on a 5-point Likert scale. A fifteenth question enquired about their willingness to consider Geriatric Medicine as a potential career choice.
The mean UCLA attitudes score was 3.58 [+/-standard deviation (SD), 0.41] suggesting a generally positive attitude. There was a strong association between attitude scores and willingness to consider Geriatric Medicine as a career (R = 0.48, P <001). However, only one third of the cohort was willing to consider a career in Geriatric Medicine. There was no difference in attitude scores between male and female students, but females were significantly more likely to consider Geriatric Medicine as a potential career choice.
First-year medical students in Singapore have a generally positive attitude towards older people, although only 1 in 3 persons was willing to consider a career in Geriatric Medicine. Higher attitude scores and female gender were the main predictors of willingness to consider a career in Geriatric Medicine.
随着老年患者数量呈指数级增长，未来医生在老年患者护理方面的培训需要与时俱进，但有些人可能存在先入为主的态度，影响他们的管理。本研究确定了医学生对老年人的态度以及他们考虑从事老年医学职业的意愿。
新加坡国立大学医学院所有250名一年级医学生，在接受任何正式临床实习之前，被要求基于加州大学洛杉矶分校老年医学态度量表自愿参与本研究。这份包含14个项目的问卷由措辞正反混合的问题组成，采用5分李克特量表作答。第15个问题询问他们是否愿意考虑将老年医学作为潜在的职业选择。
加州大学洛杉矶分校态度量表的平均得分是3.58[±标准差（SD），0.41]，表明总体态度积极。态度得分与将老年医学作为职业的意愿之间存在很强的关联（R = 0.48，P <0.001）。然而，只有三分之一的学生愿意考虑从事老年医学职业。男女生的态度得分没有差异，但女生明显更有可能将老年医学视为潜在的职业选择。
新加坡的一年级医学生对老年人总体态度积极，尽管只有三分之一的人愿意考虑从事老年医学职业。较高的态度得分和女性性别是考虑从事老年医学职业意愿的主要预测因素。
