Measuring medical students’ attitudes and knowledge about geriatrics and gerontology in Brazilian medical students: A comparison of instruments

Objective To compare instruments available for evaluating attitudes and knowledge about geriatrics and gerontology. Methods This cross‐sectional study investigated 83 third‐year Brazilian medical students (with exposure to geriatrics and gerontology) and 75 incoming students (with no exposure to this content). We used the University of California at Los Angeles Geriatrics Attitudes Scale, Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz, modified Maxwell–Sullivan Attitude Survey, Aging Semantic Differential Scale and an instrument assessing their cognitive knowledge in geriatrics. Results The instruments investigated had moderate‐to‐high correlations when evaluating similar constructs, had satisfactory or borderline internal consistency for the most part (Cronbach's α: 0.62–0.94) and were capable of discriminating between students exposed or not to practical and theoretical content. Conclusion Our findings reinforce previous studies that these scales are capable of differentiating students who have or have not had exposure/intervention and, in general, seem to be assessing different constructs.