Health Professional Attitudes Towards Ageing and Older People: Preliminary report of the Reactions to Ageing Questionnaire

The rationale, development and preliminary findings are outlined for the Reactions to Ageing Questionnaire (RAQ). The first version of the instrument was developed following a content analysis of open ended responses. Subsequent administrations to nurses and members of the general population resulted in revisions, producing a 30-item questionnaire. Results are reported of psychometric analyses following administration of the final version to 531 health professionals. Assessments of item homogeneity, use of factor analysis and assessment of associations with other measures of attitudes support the instrument's reliability and validity.