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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting the knowledge of dental
hygienists on the elderly and their attitude toward them in a bid to assist dental hygienists to have
systematic knowledge of the elderly and take a more positive attitude. And it’s also meant to pave
the way for the development of efficient senior dental hygiene education programs.
Methods: The subjects in this study were every dental hygienist who worked in randomly selected dental clinics in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. A survey was conducted in person with structured questionnaires after the necessity and purpose of the study were explained. After 300 questionnaires were handed out, the answer sheets from 290 dental hygienists were gathered, and 284 answer sheets were analyzed except six incomplete ones.
Results: As for the relationship of the demographic characteristics of the dental hygienists and
their experiences related to the elderly to knowledge about the elderly, the dental hygienists who
had ever offered dental hygiene instruction to elderly people (p=0.049), who had ever dwelled with
elderly people under the same roof (p=0.012) and who had ever done volunteer work in behalf
of elderly people (p=0.020) had more knowledge about the elderly. Concerning the relationship
of their demographic characteristics and experiences related to the elderly to their attitude, the older dental hygienists (p=0.046) took a better attitude.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the dental hygienists didn't have a sufficient knowledge on the elderly
and just took a neutral attitude toward them, but their attitude could be said to be unfavorable.
Therefore theoretical and practical education should be provided in response to their needs for
senior dental hygiene education in order for them to be better knowledgeable about the elderly
and take a more positive attitude toward them.