Medical Students' Positive and Negative Misconceptions About the Elderly

Abstract

Junior and senior medical students (N= 288) responded to Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ) 1 and 2 and the Facts on Aging and Mental Health Quiz before and after they completed a course in geriatrics. Pre- and post-comparisons of medical students' knowledge base and misconceptions about the elderly revealed a significant improvement in students' knowledge base. Students displayed considerable misconceptions about the elderly as demonstrated by the bias scores on the FAQ 1 and 2. Current findings indicate that only positive bias scores improved. This may be the result of the students' primarily being exposed to chronically ill or semi-dependent nursing home patients. To ameliorate some of their negative misconceptions, students may benefit from contact with healthy elderly or those who are treated for acute rather than chronic problems. Additional geriatric education and exposure to the elderly should be incorporated throughout the four years of the medical school training.

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