Department of Aged Care, St Vincent’s Hospital, 41 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, Vic. 3065, Australia.
Intern Med J. 2011 Apr;41(4):308-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2009.02140.x.
Ageism among health professionals is increasingly recognized, but few studies investigated hospital doctors' attitudes towards older people. The aims of this study were to investigate hospital doctors' attitudes towards older people and to determine whether factors, which were identified in studies on other health professionals, influence hospital doctors' attitudes.
Hospital doctors who worked in General Medicine or Aged Care units in two tertiary public hospitals in metropolitan Victoria, Australia, in 2008 were surveyed with Fraboni's Scale of Ageism (FSA), a validated instrument used to investigate attitudes towards older people. Demographic data from participants were collected.
Of the 235 questionnaires distributed, 122 were returned (overall response rate 51.9%). Response rate was highest among consultants (80.4%), followed by registrars (64.1%) and lowest among interns and residents (35.2%). The mean FSA score attained by the respondents was 61.5 (SD 11.0), representing a point between a neutral and a positive disposition. Doctors' characteristics that were associated with more positive attitudes towards older people included age of 30years or older (P < 0.001), female gender (P= 0.003), more senior in position (P < 0.001), postgraduate years of 10 or more (P < 0.001), previous working experience in Aged Care (P < 0.001), interest in Aged Care (P < 0.001) and more frequent social contacts with healthy older people (P < 0.001).
Hospital doctors of different demographic features and background characteristics display different attitudes towards older people. These findings can be used to inform future development of undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula and form a basis for future studies on the effectiveness of these interventions in improving doctors' attitudes.
医疗专业人员中的年龄歧视越来越受到关注，但很少有研究调查医院医生对老年人的态度。本研究旨在调查医院医生对老年人的态度，并确定在其他卫生专业人员的研究中确定的因素是否会影响医院医生的态度。
2008 年，在澳大利亚维多利亚州大都市的两家三级公立医院的普通内科或老年科工作的医院医生接受了 Fraboni 年龄歧视量表（FSA）的调查，该量表是用于调查对老年人态度的有效工具。收集了参与者的人口统计学数据。
在分发的 235 份问卷中，有 122 份（总体回复率为 51.9%）被返回。顾问的回复率最高（80.4%），其次是住院医师（64.1%），最低的是实习医生和住院医生（35.2%）。受访者的平均 FSA 得分为 61.5（SD 11.0），代表处于中立和积极态度之间的一个点。与对老年人更积极的态度相关的医生特征包括年龄在 30 岁或以上（P < 0.001）、女性（P=0.003）、职位更高（P < 0.001）、研究生年限为 10 年或以上（P < 0.001）、以前有老年护理工作经验（P < 0.001）、对老年护理的兴趣（P < 0.001）和与健康老年人的社交接触更频繁（P < 0.001）。
不同人口统计学特征和背景特征的医院医生对老年人的态度不同。这些发现可用于为未来的本科和研究生医学课程的发展提供信息，并为未来研究这些干预措施对改善医生态度的有效性奠定基础。
