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. 2022 Sep 22;19(4):953–976. doi: 10.1007/s10433-022-00722-1

Table 2.

Results and calculated effect sizes of the included quantitative studies in controlled or between-subject designs

Author(s) Intervention/control group (IG/CG) Conducted questionnaire T0
mean ± SD
T1
mean ± SD
p
T0-T1
p
T1 IG-CG
d
T0-T1
d
IG-CG
Findings
Cheng et al. (2020) IG: Senior Simulation Program KAOP IG: 120.3 ± 12.3 IG: 124.8 ± 12.4  < .001 .374 0.36 0.07 ↑ Increased attitudes toward older adults in IG and CG
Koken ASS CG: 122.8 ± 11.6 CG: 126.5 ± 10.0  < .001
CG: placebo clothing WCOP IG: 5.0 ± 1.3 IG: 5.5 ± 1.1  < .001 ↑ Willingness to care for older adults in CG and IG
CG: 5.4 ± 0.9 CG: 5.6 ± 10.0  < .001 .397 0.42 0.27 No sig. difference between groups
Filz (2010) self-made ASSIG: “instant ageing program” Attitudes score IG: 40% n/a n/a ↑ Higher attitudes score in IG vs. CG
CG: 29%
CG: lecture Evaluation sheets IG: 85% n/a n/a ↑ Higher empathy score in IG vs. CG
Empathy score CG: 57%
Lee and Teh (2020) IG: daily activities + workshop JSE-HPS IG: 111.5 ± 13.6 113.2 ± 14.5 .86 .81 0.12 0.04 No sig. change in empathy, felt back to baseline 3 months later in both groups
Nagoya ASS CG: 111.9 ± 11.3 113.1 ± 9.4 0.12
CG: workshop Self-rated knowledge n/a n/a n/a .79 Self-rated knowledge and understanding on physical limitations post intervention similar between groups
Empathy n/a n/a n/a .70
Support n/a n/a n/a .34
Luchetti et al. (2017) IG1: “Experiencing Aging” - 0.36a
unkown ASS UCLA-GA IG1: 51.88 ± 4.67 IG1: 50.51 ± 5.19 .001 IG1-CG .809 - 0.28 ↓ IG1 decreased attitudes
IG2: 51.01 ± 5.25 IG2: 53.67 ± 4.16  < .001 IG2-CG < .001 0.56 ↑ IG2 increased attitudes
CG: 50.00 ± 5.68
IG2: “Myths about aging” Palmore FAQ-1 IG1: 11.61 ± 2.74 IG1: 10.94 ± 2.28 .033 IG1-CG .104 - 0.27 ↓ IG1 decreased knowledge
no ASS IG2: 11.13 ± 2.41 IG2: 17.58 ± 1.96  < .001 IG2-CG < .001 2.94 ↑ IG2 increased knowledge
CG: 10.22 ± 2.24
CG: no intervention MSS attitudes IG1: 15.53 ± 2.93 IG1: 16.78 ± 2.83 .007 IG1-CG .734 - 0.43 ↓ IG1 decreased pos. attitudes
IG2: 16.17 ± 3.65 IG2: 14.83 ± 3.46  < .001 IG2-CG .042 - 0.38 ↓ IG2 increased pos. attitudes
CG: 16.29 ± 4.2
MSS empathy IG: 5.33 ± 1.62 IG1: 4.63 ± 1.31 .001 IG1-CG .124 0.48 ↑ IG1 increased empathy
IG2: 5.44 ± 2.37 IG2: 5.13 ± 2.10 .070 IG2-CG .824 - 0.21 IG2 no difference
CG: 5.32 ± 2.09
Mandegari and Bamakan et al. (2021) IG: lecture about age & ageing, ageing simulation Palmore FAQ-1 IG: 9.2 ± 2.6 IG: 15.3 ± 3.5 .001 .001 1.98 1.87

↑ Increased knowledge in IG post

sig. difference between IG-CG post

Unknown ASS CG: 10.4 ± 2.9 CG: 11.3 ± 2.6 .30 0.33
KAOPS IG: 114.69 ± 8.4 IG: 157.31 ± 10.7  < .05 .001 4.43 4.15

↑ IG increased positive attitudes post

↓ CG decreased positive attitudes post

CG: lecture CG: 113.34 ± 13.6 CG: 108.5 ± 16.6  < .05 - 0.32
Positive IG: 58.06 ± 6.3 IG: 78.8 ± 6.9 .001 .001 3.14 0.53

↑ IG increased negative attitudes post

↓ CG decreased negative attitudes post

CG: 56.9 ± 10.9 CG: 52.9 ± 8.4 .10 - 0.41
Negative IG: 56.6 ± 6.2 IG: 78.5 ± 5.7 .001 .01 3.68 -0.82
CG: 56.3 ± 7.1 CG: 52.6 ± 10.1 .06 - 0.42
Mohamed et al. (2017) IG: lectures about age & ageing, simulation game KAOPS 0.71b
Self-made ASS Positive IG: 53.7 ± 5.7 IG: 57.8 ± 7.0 .30 .20 0.64 0.53 No sig. difference between groups (post)
CG: 54.7 ± 5.8 CG: 55.7 ± 7.8 .20 0.15 ↑ Tendency to more positive attitudes in IG/CG post
CG: lectures Negative IG: 49.8 ± 7.1 IG: 43.9 ± 8.1  < .001 .014 0.78 -0.82 ↓ Decreased scores in negative attitudes in IG post
CG: 48.2 ± 7.1 CG: 48.2 ± 7.3 1.0 0.00
Knowledge about normal ageing changes IG: 13.3 ± .3.3 IG: 21.0 ± 2.6  < .001  < .001 2.59 1.23 Sig. difference between IG-CG
CG: 13.0 ± 3.6 CG: 16.4 ± 3.5  < .001 0.96 ↑ Increased knowledge in IG
Rueffert and Bullinger (2020) IG: lectures about age & ageing, tasks of daily living Self-developed: cognition IG: 5.03 ± 0.73 .004 ↑Increased empathy and understanding subjects wearing the ASS had higher scores in
MAX ASS CG: 4.76 ± 0.85
CG: lectures about age & ageing, observed the IG Empathy and understanding IG: 5.32 ± 0.76 .009
CG: 5.12 ± 0.80
Motivation IG: 4.87 ± 0.80 .020
CG: 4.65 ± 0.86
Yu et al. (2012) IG: lectures about age & ageing, tasks of daily living Nursing Assistants’ knowledge About Aging Scale IG: 27.4 ± 5.5 IG: 33.3 ± 5.8  < .001 1.04 1.21 ↑ Sig. increased knowledge for IG
Self-made ASS CG: 28.4 ± 4.8 CG: 28.0 ± 4.1 .61 - 0.09
CG: lectures about age & ageing NA Attitudes toward Older Adults IG: 62.4 ± 6.1 IG: 65.2 ± 6.8 .001 0.43 0.46 ↑ Sig. increased attitudes toward older adults in IG
CG: 65.3 ± 5.6 CG: 65.4 ± 8.8 .95 - 0.01
NA Motivation to Care IG: 46.6 ± 4.5 IG: 47.7 ± 4.2 .06 0.25 No sig. change in motivation to care in IG and CG
CG: 48.3 ± 4.6 CG: 47.1 ± 4.6 .12 - 0.26

n, numbers; s, seconds; cm, centimeters; °, degrees; ASS, Age Simulation Suit; CG, Control Group; IG, Intervention Group; ASD, Aging Semantic Differential; BES, Basic Empathy Scale; JFE-HPS, Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professions Students; IMTEE, Integrated Model of Training Evaluation and Effectiveness; KAOPS, Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Older People Scale; MSS, Maxwell Sullivan Scale; Palmore FAQ-1, Palmore Facts About Aging Quiz; UCLA-GA, UCLA Geriatric Attitudes Test; WCOP, Willingness To Care For Older People Scale; calculated effect size Cohen’s d (Lenhard and Lenhard 2017) variant 1 effect size represents pre-to-post differences in the IG; positive/negative effects reporting increased/decreased attitudes/empathy; calculated effect size Cohen’s d (Morris 2008) variant 3 represents post differences between IG-CG

aMean effect size for the two attitude measures MSS and UCLA-GA

bMean effect size for positive and negative KAOPS scores