DIFERENCES IN THE ATTITUDES OF HEALTH AND NON-HEALTH STUDENTS ABOUT AGING AND DEMENTIA

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this research is to examine the attitudes of students of health and non-health majors about aging and dementia as a social phenomenon and to investigate whether there is a connection between the measurement variables.

Methods: The research is cross-sectional. The respondents are students of the University of Split from the Faculty of Medicine, Maritime and Philosophy and the Department of Health Studies. The processed data was collected through an online survey. Descriptive statistics methods present mean levels of attitudes using the median and arithmetic mean with indicators of dispersion around the mean values using the interquartile range and standard deviation. The χ2 test examines the difference in the structure of the respondents. When testing hypotheses, T-test, Anova test, and regression analysis are used. The analysis was done in the statistical software STATISTICA 12, TIBCO Software Inc., California.

Measuring tools

For the purposes of the research, a 4-part questionnaire was conducted: data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, knowledge of the respondents using the Palmer scale, attitudes toward aging and older people using the Kogan scale, and attitudes toward dementia using the DAS scale.

Results: The mean level of attitude on Kogan's scale is 3.73 points higher compared to the limit value of 119. The test revealed a statistically significant difference (t=4.28; P<0.001).

Knowledge was tested with the Palmer knowledge scale. The average level of knowledge was 15.02 points, ranging from 1 to 23.

The attitude towards dementia was examined with the DAS scale. The average level on the DAS scale is 10.15 points higher than the threshold value, the acceptance of people with dementia is at a lower level.

There was no correlation between age and attitudes about aging and older people (r=0.024; P=0.715), nor between age and the Palmer scale (r=-0.114; P=0.083). The change in attitude towards dementia is not related to the change in age (r=0.060; P=0.364).

On the DAS scale, a higher score of 2.39 points was found in the examined female students compared to the examined male students (t=1.98; P=0.049).

The examination did not establish the presence of a statistically significant difference with regard to gender (F=1.62; P=0.199).

The examination did not establish the presence of a statistically significant difference in the place of residence (F=0.20; P=0.819).

The examination did not establish a statistically significant difference with regard to the year of study (F=2.07; P=0.070).

The mean level of attitude on the Kogan scale is 0.47 points higher among students with personal experience of living with older people, the difference is not statistically significant (t=0.21; P=0.837).

On the Palmer scale of knowledge, the level of knowledge is 0.21 points higher for students with personal experience of living with older people, the difference is not statistically significant (t=0.40; P=0.689).

On the DAS scale, the score is higher by 1.48 points for students who do not have personal experience of living with the elderly compared to students who have, the difference is not statistically significant (t=0.97; P=0.333).

A statistically significant influence on knowledge was determined for the age factor. The year of study has a positive effect on knowledge, that is, students in higher years of study record an increase in knowledge by an average of 0.15 points in each subsequent year of study (P=0.041).

Conclusions: 233 students of health and non-health studies participated in the cross-sectional survey.

The perception of medical students is more positive in three test categories: aging and elderly people, and dementia.
The perception of students is not different regardless of demographic characteristics (age, gender, place of residence, year of study).
We did not prove any differences in the perception of students towards aging with regard to the experience of cohabiting with an elderly person.
The model of perception towards aging and dementia confirms that a set of factors (demographic, educational, educational content and living together with elderly people) significantly influences the perception of students.