Clinical Exposure to Visiting Dental Practice Heightens General Ageism in Dental Residents: A Longitudinal Study

While clinical training is considered a key strategy for fostering positive attitudes, the impact of exposure to older patients-particularly in home-visit dentistry-on dental residents' attitudes remains unclear. This study examines the effect of clinical training in home-visit dentistry on ageism in dental residents.

A longitudinal single-arm pre-post design was employed. The study was conducted at Kyushu Dental University from April 2024 to March 2025. A total of 63 dental residents participated at baseline. Of these, 36 (57.1%) completed all assessments and were included in the final analysis. Participants completed two validated Japanese instruments: the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) for general ageism and the Ageism Scale for Dental Students (ASDS) for profession-specific ageism. Assessments were conducted at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Participants were categorised by number of home-visit sessions: ≤ 3 or ≥ 4 visits at 6 months, and ≤ 6 or ≥ 7 at 12 months.

ASDS scores remained largely stable over a 12-month period (mean difference from baseline to 12 months: +2.0; effect size [ES] = -0.29). In contrast, FSA scores at 6 months (37.0 [23-73], ES = -1.08), and at 12 months (49.0 [25-87], ES = -2.76) were higher than the baseline median of 33.5 [14-42], indicating a very large deterioration in general ageism. FSA scores were even higher among residents with greater exposure to home-visit dentistry.

General ageism increased during the clinical training period, particularly among residents with greater exposure to home-visit dentistry. In contrast, profession-specific ageism remained largely unchanged.