Dentistry students ageing anxiety levels in northern Iran.

Objective: Ageing anxiety as a specific subtype of anxiety disorder has been considered as a moderating factor on healthcare providers' professional task dealing with the elders.

Methods: A Persian translation of Ageing Anxiety Scale (AAS) (Int J Aging Hum Dev, 37, 1993, 247) was administered to the university students of a dentistry school located at northern Iran. The questionnaire consisted of twenty-five-point Likert-scale questions.

Results: The obtained mean score of ageing anxiety was 58.51 (±9.85), (out of a possible 100), and the questionnaire revealed a good level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.76). The results did not differ by gender (p = 0.22), between undergraduate or postgraduate students (p = 0.81), various postgraduate disciplines (p = 0.69), residing with an elder at home (p = 0.18) and length of time living with an elder (p = 0.81).

Conclusion: The Persian translation of AAS showed a good level of internal consistency. The selected population with educational attainment in this research revealed a moderate ageing anxiety level.