Validation of the Polish version of an Ageism Scale for Dental Students (ASDS-PL).

Background: Ageism is one of the common forms of discrimination and prejudice. It has also been shown to be present in health professionals, including doctors, nurses, and medical students.

Aims: The aim of this study was to translate the Ageism Scale For Dental Students (ASDS) into Polish, perform a culture adaptation, and conduct a preliminary validation analysis.

Methods: The survey was administered to 202 third-, fourth-, and fifth-year students at the Jagiellonian University (No. 1072.6120.283.2020). Data were analyzed using principal components analysis (PCA) with an oblique, Promax rotation, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Cronbach's alpha (α) was calculated to check the internal consistency reliability. Discriminant validity was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test.

Results: PCA produced a 10-item scale distributed into three factors, which explains 59.52% of the total variance. Factor 1 ("preconceived notions about dental treatment") contained four items (α = 0.703), Factor 2 ("cost-benefit of providing care for older patients")-four items (α = 0.660) and Factor 3 ("dentist-older patient interaction")-two items (α = 0.662). CFA confirmed that the model is a good fit (RMSE = 0.058, 90% CI from 0.014 to 0.092, CFI = 0.950, and TLI = 0.926). The discriminant validity showed statistically significant differences in factors or individual items related to the year of the study, gender, and having a history of living with an older person(s) or an older patient(s) treated.

Conclusion: The validation of the ASDS conducted in Poland identified 10 items with sufficient validity and reliability.