Profession-Specific Ageism Changes Following a Two-Day Long-Term Care Placement in Dental Students

Ageism among dental students can impede equitable geriatric care. Developing educational interventions to reduce profession-specific and general ageist attitudes is an urgent priority in aging societies.

To determine whether a community-based extramural placement in long-term care reduces profession-specific ageism and to identify which students benefit.

Single-arm pre-post study at two universities. Surveys were administered at the start of the 10th and the end of the 11th semester (September 2024-August 2025). Ageism was measured with ASDS-J and FSA-J; willingness to treat older adults was a 6-level item. Primary analyses used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Hodges-Lehmann (HL) median paired differences and effect size r. An ANCOVA modelled post-ASDS-J, adjusted with baseline ASDS-J and FSA-J and demographics. A binary logistic regression modelled improvement in ASDS-J.

ASDS-J decreased after the placement (HL: 1.5, 95% CI -3.0 to 0.0), while FSA-J did not change. Within FSA-J, only Antilocution showed a small nominal shift; Discrimination, Avoidance and willingness were unchanged. In ANCOVA, post-ASDS-J levels aligned with baseline dispositions (higher pre-ASDS-J and pre-FSA-J), with other covariates not contributory. Binary logistic regression showed that higher baseline ASDS-J predicted improvement.

A brief community-based placement in a long-term care facility was associated with reduced profession-specific ageism among dental students, whereas general ageism remained unchanged. Improvement was more likely among students starting higher on ASDS-J, indicating preferential benefits for those with stronger profession-specific ageism at entry.