Survey of attitude towards and understanding of the elderly amongst Chinese undergraduate medical students

Background: Gerontology has an increasing role in medicine and public health. The provision of better medical services to the elderly closely correlates with the attitude towards and understanding of the elderly by medical personnel.

Objectives: We investigated factors affecting a medical student’s choice of gerontology as a career. This included a survey of attitude towards the elderly and understanding of aging among first and third year Chinese undergraduates. Data between students in different streams, at different levels, and between sexes were compared.

Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 335 undergraduate medical students in Sichuan for a survey using Kogan’s Attitudes toward Older People Scale (KAOP) and Palmore’s Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ1) as tools.

Results: Among undergraduates, 71.3% did not acquire significant knowledge about the elderly (mean KAOP score 139.5 ± 16.0); and had a mean score of knowledge of aging (12.2 ± 2.7). The majority of first year students (98.7%) and third year students (98.8%) had a positive attitudes (KAOP > 102). The KAOP score among first year students was higher than that among third years (P < 0.01). Students with an interest in problems of the elderly had significantly higher scores and were more willing to consider careers in gerontology than students without an interest in the elderly (P < 0.01).

Conclusions: The majority of Chinese undergraduate medical students surveyed had positive attitudes towards elderly. We recommend greater accessibility of courses in gerontology to meet the increasing need for personnel in this health care sector.