Family physicians in Samsun, Turkey, reported generally positive attitudes toward older adults alongside high levels of empathy, according to a cross-sectional survey of 299 physicians published in BMC Geriatrics. The study also found a statistically significant, low-level positive correlation between physicians’ empathy scores and their positive attitudes toward older people.
The research was conducted between May and August 2021 among family physicians, residents, and specialists working in Samsun. Participants completed surveys delivered online, by phone, or face to face, using two validated instruments: the Attitude Scale of Age Discrimination (ASAD), which measures attitudes toward age discrimination, and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy – Health Professional version (JSPE-HP), which measures empathy among health professionals.
The mean JSPE-HP score was 81.6 with a standard deviation of 9.49, which the authors characterize as a high level of empathy. The mean ASAD score was 88.19 with a standard deviation of 8.65, indicating generally positive attitudes toward older adults on a scale in which higher scores reflect more favorable attitudes.
Three individual factors were significantly associated with both empathy and ageism scores: age, gender, and professional experience. Older physicians, female physicians, and those with more professional experience showed more empathetic attitudes and less ageist attitudes than their counterparts. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional, so these associations reflect differences between participants at a single point in time rather than changes within individuals over a career, and the findings are limited to physicians surveyed in one Turkish province.
The authors frame the work against the broader problem of ageism in healthcare. In their introduction, they describe ageism as a widespread but often overlooked form of discrimination that can manifest both positively and negatively in clinical settings, and note that discriminatory attitudes toward older adults can affect the quality and equality of medical care. Empathy, they argue, plays a crucial role in mitigating such biases among physicians.
Because the survey was carried out in a single region and relied on self-reported attitudes, the results describe the participating physicians rather than the wider Turkish medical workforce. The correlation between empathy and positive attitudes toward older adults was statistically significant but low in magnitude, meaning that empathy explains only a small part of the variation in ageism scores. The authors note that the study was designed to evaluate attitudes toward age discrimination among family physicians and to assess the relationship between those attitudes and empathy levels, together with the influence of sociodemographic factors, rather than to test any intervention.
The article was published as an open-access research paper on 29 October 2026 and is currently available as a version that may still be subject to further editorial edits before the final version of record appears.
Subject of Research: The relationship between empathy levels and attitudes toward age discrimination among family physicians in Samsun, Turkey
Article Title: The effect of individual factors on the attitude of age discrimination with the empathy levels of family physicians: Samsun example
Article References: Unal, M., Göktepe, M. E., & Bağlar, M. (2026). The effect of individual factors on the attitude of age discrimination with the empathy levels of family physicians: Samsun example. BMC Geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-08429-z
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s12877-026-08429-z
Keywords: ageism, empathy, family physicians, cross-sectional study, Turkey, BMC Geriatrics, healthcare discrimination, older adults, Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, survey research, effect, individual
News Source: Ophelia Keating. (October 29, 2026). Empathetic family physicians show less ageist attitudes, Samsun survey finds. Scienmag.
