TY - JOUR T1 - Evaluation of awareness and attitudes of preclinical and clinical dental students towardolder adults: a cross-sectional study AU - Ateş, Gül PY - 2026 DA - March Y2 - 2026 DO - 10.47582/jompac.1837800 JF - Journal of Medicine and Palliative Care JO - J Med Palliat Care / JOMPAC / jompac PB - MediHealth Academy Yayıncılık WT - DergiPark SN - 2717-7505 SP - 232 EP - 239 VL - 7 IS - 2 LA - en AB - Aims: As the population ages, dental students increasingly interact with older patients. The education they receive plays a crucial role in shaping their attitudes toward older adults and may influence treatment outcomes. Consequently, evaluating students’ perspectives on older individuals is essential for developing comprehensive and practice-oriented dental curricula. This study aimed to compare awareness and attitudes toward older adults among preclinical and clinical dental students attending dental schools in Turkiye. Methods: A total of 630 preclinical and clinical students from public and private dental faculties voluntarily participated in the study. Participants completed a 24-item questionnaire distributed via a digital link. The first two sections collected demographic information and assessed awareness regarding the importance of geriatrics in dentistry. The final section included 13 Likert-scale items evaluating students’ attitudes toward older adults. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 with Pearson’s Chi square and Fisher’s exact tests to examine associations between categorical variables. Statistical significance was set at p KW - Geriatric dentistry KW - attitudes KW - awareness KW - dental education KW - older adults CR - Lee SB, Oh JH, Park JH, Choi SP, Wee JH. Differences in youngest-old, middle-old, and oldest-old patients who visit the emergency department. Clin Exp Emerg Med. 2018;5(4):249-255. doi:10.15441/ceem.17.261 CR - Turkish Statistical Institute. 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Gerodontology. 2019;36(3):251-257. doi:10.1111/ger.12403 UR - https://doi.org/10.47582/jompac.1837800 L1 - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/5486545 ER -