ABSTRACT

We compared attitudes toward aging of students from several health professions (N = 1,156: 286 medical, 275 pharmacy, 213 undergraduate nursing, 160 graduate nursing, 139 Internal Medicine residents, 49 physical therapy, and 34 physician assistant), and assessed the construct validity of the Image of Aging Scale. Physical therapy and graduate nursing students reported more positive attitudes toward aging in comparison to all other health professions (all p <.001). Differences in attitudes were not strongly affected by demographic variables, clinical exposure, desire to pursue primary care, or interest in providing care to older adults. The Image of Aging Scale yielded good internal reliability and adequate construct validity for health professions students. Health professions students’ attitudes toward aging largely reflect the students’ professional training, rather than student characteristics or career goals. The Image of Aging Scale is a robust measure of attitudes toward aging in health professions students and in older adults.

摘要

我们比较了几个健康专业的学生对老龄化的态度（N = 1,156：286 名医学、275 名药学、213 名本科护理、160 名护理研究生、139 名内科住院医师、49 名物理治疗和 34 名医师助理），并评估了结构效度老化量表的图像。与所有其他健康专业相比，物理治疗和护理专业的研究生报告了对衰老更积极的态度（所有p<.001)。态度差异不受人口统计变量、临床暴露、寻求初级保健的愿望或对老年人提供护理的兴趣的强烈影响。老龄化形象量表对健康专业学生产生了良好的内部信度和足够的结构效度。卫生专业学生对老龄化的态度在很大程度上反映了学生的专业训练，而不是学生的特点或职业目标。老龄化形象量表是衡量卫生专业学生和老年人对老龄化态度的有力衡量标准。