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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2022; 14(01): 012-021
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748777
Original Article

Perceptions of Geriatric Medicine and Care of the Elderly: An Exploratory Survey of Physicians from the Middle East and Africa

Salem A. Beshyah 
1   Department of Medicine, Dubai Medical College for Girls, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
,
Khadija Hafidh
1   Department of Medicine, Dubai Medical College for Girls, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2   Department of Medicine, Rashid Hospital, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
,
Husen Abdulrahman
3   Department of Medicine, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, SEHA, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
,
Sonia Ouali Hammami
4   Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatric Unit, CHU F. Bourguiba Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia
5   Research Laboratory LR12ES05, Lab-NAFS Nutrition, Functional Food & Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia
› Author Affiliations Funding and Sponsorship None.
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Abstract

Background The number of older people is growing in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). We aimed to explore the attitudes of MEA's physicians toward the care of the elderly and nursing homes.

Methods We surveyed 137 doctors practicing in the MEA region in 2017 using an online questionnaire that included attitude scales of geriatrics and nursing homes.

Results Most respondents were senior (47.1%) or in middle grades (35.3%), in public facilities (77.4%), and practiced internal medicine and subspecialties. More respondents (86%) agreed with what was perceived as the most exciting and entertaining qualities of most older people in their accounts of their past experiences. Also, 69.0% of respondents disagreed that older people need/demand no more attention or love than younger people. At the same time, 43.6% of respondents were neutral on the question relating to older people's power in business and politics. Positive attitudes, that is, older people's willingness to continue working for as long as possible, and that wisdom with age scored 61.5% was supported by 85.1 and 61.5% of the respondents, respectively.

On the other hand, 53.7% of respondents agreed that older people could not adjust and change with changing circumstances, 70.9% disagreed that older people make neighborhoods less favorable. However, only 15.5% disagreed with the statement that older people cannot adjust and change with changing circumstances. Nearly two-thirds thought nursing homes were not well developed (63.0%) in the MEA region. Also, 59.8% said that the expected reimbursement is low, 57.7% were concerned about complicated medical problems, and 57.3% highlighted the deficits in training. There was low satisfaction with providing nursing home care despite agreeing that they may feel professionally satisfied providing nursing home care (49.5%). The respondents were neutral (47.3%) or somewhat agreed (42.9%) about enjoying nursing home care.

Conclusion There is a suboptimal attitude of practicing physicians to geriatrics that needs improvements.

Keywords

elderly care - geriatrics attitude scale - doctors - attitudes toward older people - geriatrics education - nursing home care - Middle East - Africa

Authors' Contributions

S.A.B. and S.H. proposed the study; S.A.B. adopted the questionnaires and managed the survey process. All authors examined the data, revised the manuscript for intellectual content and presentation, and approved its final version.


Compliance with Ethical Standards

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Participants provided informed consent to participate before they could access the survey questions. All data were analyzed anonymously.




Publication History

Article published online:
11 July 2022

© 2022. The Libyan Authority of Scientific Research and Technology and the Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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