Abstract
To perform a systematic review of articles evaluating implicit attitudes of health professionals and undergraduate students in the health field toward the elderly. The PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and LILACS databases were searched for relevant articles published in English, Portuguese and Spanish using the following search terms: implicit attitude AND (elderly OR aged OR older people). Seven articles were selected. The majority of studies were conducted in developed countries and found negative attitudes toward the elderly, with males exhibiting more negative attitudes than females. The articles analyzed in this review demonstrate an implicitly negative attitude among professionals and students in the field of health toward the elderly.
Highlights
The world is undergoing rapid demographic transition, with an increase in life expectancy, accompanied by a considerable increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases,[1] such as depression, diabetes mellitus, systemic arterial hypertension and chronic degenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease)
The analysis of the articles selected for the present review reveals negative attitudes toward the elderly on the part of health professionals and students in the health field
Some investigations have suggested that negative attitudes toward the elderly public are related to the issues outlined in the introduction, i.e., difficulties dealing with situations of abandonment, death and dependence, communication problems during appointments, and large number of treatments, among others
Summary
The world is undergoing rapid demographic transition, with an increase in life expectancy, accompanied by a considerable increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases,[1] such as depression, diabetes mellitus, systemic arterial hypertension and chronic degenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease). Studies have revealed that health professionals and students in the health field prefer not to work with the elderly.[6,7] A study involving 113 nursing students found that only 2.7% reported having interest in working with this target public, whereas 68.1% reported having no interest and the rest demonstrated neither interest nor disinterest.[6] In another study involving 100 neurologists, 77% had positive attitudes toward the elderly, 20% had negative attitudes and the remaining 3% had neutral attitudes. It should be pointed out that the 77% with positive attitudes had more contact with disciplines in the field of geriatrics.[8]
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