Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Targeted Training of Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Aged and Parkinsonian Rats
Published on: August 8, 2011
Perceptions of aging and ageism among Mexican physicians-in-training
C Gomez-Moreno1, H Verduzco-Aguirre2, S Contreras-Garduño1
1Department of Geriatrics, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas Y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga 15, Séptimo Piso UPA, Colonia Belisario Domínguez Sección XVI, Tlalpan, 14080, Mexico City, Mexico.
Introduction:
Attributing negative stereotypes to older adults (ageism) may lead to undertreatment, but little is known about the prevalence of ageism among physicians treating patients with cancer in Ibero-America. We studied stereotypes of aging among Mexican physicians-in-training.
Materials And Methods:
Physicians-in-training attending an oncology meeting answered the "Negative Attributes and Positive Potential in Old Age" survey. Ten questions assessed positive characteristics of aging (PPOA; score 1-4, higher scores represent a positive perception), and four assessed negative characteristics (NAOA; score 1-4, higher score representing a negative perception). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the questionnaires. Participants completed the "Image-of-Aging" question by writing five words describing older adults and young individuals. Each word was rated from - 5 (negative) to + 5 (positive), and presented as word clouds.
Results:
One hundred physicians-in-training (median age 28.5) were included. For the PPOA scale, the mean score was 2.9 (SD 0.4), while for the NAOA scale it was 2.1 (SD 0.4). Perceptions of aging were better among women and trainees enrolled in geriatrics and/or oncology-related programs. In the "Image-of-Aging" questions, median rating of words describing older adults was - 2, compared to + 3 for young individuals (p < 0.001). Among words used to describe older adults, the most frequent was "frail/frailty" (n = 45), while "health" (n = 46) was the most frequent for younger individuals.
Conclusions:
Mexican physicians-in-training showed mostly negative perceptions of aging, exemplified by the use of negative terms to describe older adults. Creating educational initiatives aimed at decreasing ageism among oncology trainees is necessary across Ibero-America.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Subliminal Perception
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Perception
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Auditory Perception
Extrasensory Perception
Precognition involves foreseeing future events, such as predicting an accident before it happens. An example of precognition could be someone dreaming about a specific event, like a car crash, which then occurs...

