Zhang Xingyu, Zhang Ming, Li Tao, Liu Sha, Zhang Haifeng, Cheng Huaqin, Wang Tao, An Cuixia, Liu Tieqiao, Kuang Weihong, Zhang Qinge, Kong Lingtao, Wang Wei, Wu Donghui, Yu Xin, Wang Huali
Dementia Care and Research Center, Peking University Institute of Mental Health (Sixth Hospital), Beijing, 100191, China.
National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University), NHC Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Beijing, 100191, China.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 May 31;25(1):814. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07363-9.
Mental health is crucial to older adults, especially in the context of the aging society and longevity era. To better address these challenges, it is necessary to delineate medical students' knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) status from the first-year students to the junior before entering clinical practice. Thus, the study aimed to investigate medical undergraduate students' KAP regarding the mental health of older adults.
A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from December 7 to 26, 2023, among medical students at ten universities in China. We used a web-based questionnaire to collect information on demographic characteristics and KAP.
1,087 medical students (age: 19.02 ± 1.15 years; 463 male, 624 female; 471 first-year students, 207 sophomores, 409 junior) completed the survey. The average correct rate of knowledge was 63.6%. The average agreement rate of attitude was 81.3%. And the average frequency of practice was 40.5%. Knowledge, attitudes, and practice significantly correlated with each other. The mediation analysis showed that the attitudes mediated the relationship between knowledge and practice (95%CI = [0.036, 0.083]). The structural equation model showed the cognitive influencing factors and social and cultural factors in the knowledge section were associated with two dimensions of attitudes (ps < 0.05).
Medical undergraduate students showed medium knowledge and a positive attitude but low frequency of practice regarding the mental health of older adults. The results highlight the influence of cognitive and socio-cultural factors within the dimension of knowledge on attitudes. Future training curricula should target these aspects.
心理健康对老年人至关重要，尤其是在老龄化社会和长寿时代的背景下。为了更好地应对这些挑战，有必要在医学生进入临床实习之前，从大一学生到大三学生描绘出他们的知识、态度和实践（KAP）状况。因此，本研究旨在调查医学本科生对老年人心理健康的KAP。
2023年12月7日至26日，在中国十所大学的医学生中进行了一项横断面在线调查。我们使用基于网络的问卷收集有关人口统计学特征和KAP的信息。
1087名医学生（年龄：19.02±1.15岁；男性463名，女性624名；大一学生471名，大二学生207名，大三学生409名）完成了调查。知识的平均正确率为63.6%。态度的平均认同率为81.3%。实践的平均频率为40.5%。知识、态度和实践之间存在显著相关性。中介分析表明，态度在知识与实践之间起中介作用（95%CI = [0.036, 0.083]）。结构方程模型表明，知识部分的认知影响因素和社会文化因素与态度的两个维度相关（p<0.05）。
医学本科生对老年人心理健康的知识掌握程度中等，态度积极，但实践频率较低。结果突出了知识维度内认知和社会文化因素对态度的影响。未来的培训课程应针对这些方面。
