Attitudes of emergency department doctors towards older adults in Malaysia
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Date
2017
Authors
Jack, Tan Heng
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Pusat Pengajian Sains Perubatan, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Background: Specific knowledge, skills and attitudes are necessary for the evaluation
and treatment of older adult patients due to the frailty, vulnerability and disadvantages
of this group of individuals compared to their younger counterparts. This study is to
determine the attitudes of emergency department doctors in Malaysia towards older
adults, its associating factors and their willingness to consider care for these individuals
as their career.
Methods: Emergency department doctors in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia
(HUSM), Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab (HRPZ) II, Hospital Kuala Krai and
Hospital Tanah Merah were asked to participate voluntarily in a survey in early 2017.
The questionnaires consisted of the basic socio-demographic information and a 14-item
validated instrument based on the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Geriatrics Attitudes Scale. A fifteenth question enquired about their willingness to
consider geriatric medicine as a future career choice. Scoring was performed on a 5-
point Likert scale. Using SPSS software ver. 22.0, simple and multiple linear regression
analyses were conducted to determine the factors associated with the mean UCLA
attitude score. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the relation between
the mean attitude scores and willingness to consider a future career in geriatrics.
Description
Keywords
Attitude of health personnel