Attitudes of Turkish nursing students toward elderly people

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the attitudes of nursing students towards elderly people. Methods: The study was carried out in a cross-sectional and descriptive design. The Turkish version of UCLA-GA Scale was used to evaluate attitudes towards older people among 931 students attending four schools of nursing located in Aegean, Mediterranean, Marmara regions and Istanbul in Turkey. Results: Mean score of UCLA-GA scale was 48.64 +/- 5.51 (min: 22, max: 64). Female students were found to have more positive attitudes than male students (t = 2.709, P < 0.05), those who have an elderly relative than those who do not (t = 2.671, P < 0.05), those who want to live with an elderly family member than those who do not (t = 6.374, P < 0.05), and those who want to work at a unit offering care to the elderly after graduation than those who do not (t = 5.259, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Positive attitudes towards ageism were affected by variables such as: sex, willingness to live with aged parents after starting a family, work with older people after graduation and whether they had previously or currently lived with an aged relative. (C) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS and European Union Geriatric Medicine Society. All rights reserved.