Beliefs in relation to elderly between Dentistry undergraduates of private university of Parana

Abstract

Aging is a sociocultural concept characterized by the opposite to the youth. Generalization and the lack of knowledge about this stage of life can lead to false assessments that tend to oscillate between positive and negative. Objective: a) To characterize the beliefs about aging of Dentistry undergraduates from a private higher education institution; b) to verify if the belief of the undergraduates had about aging may interfere in the choice of future dental care given to older people, and; c) to assess the profile of the respondents by gender, age and graduation period. Material and methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with students properly enrolled in the Dentistry course of a private institution, in 2016 (N = 90). The profile of the population was defined by gender, age and graduation period. It was verified the preference and predilection in future working or not working with a certain age group. Also, the beliefs about aging were investigated through a semantic scale. Distributions of absolute and relative frequencies were made. Statistical analysis was given by using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Most respondents were female (78.9%); with a mean age of 23.34 years; enrolled in the 8th period; 51.1% said they had no preference in future work with particular age range; and, there was a predominance of positive view, with tendencies towards neutrality. There were no statistically significant differences between the beliefs toward aging and the variables: gender, age and period. Statistically significant dependencies were found between the beliefs about old age and preference in working or not working in future treat a certain age range of the population. Conclusion: The respondents have a more positive view of old age; no predilection to provide dental care to a certain age group, highlighting a general and humanist profile in relation to chronological age.