Initial validation of the Portuguese version of the EVE discrimination questionnaire (EVE-D): the level of perceived ageism by physicians in the Portuguese healthcare system

One of the challenges related to aging is ageism, age-based prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination against a particular age group, most commonly expressed against older adults. There is a general agreement that ageism is present in healthcare settings. This study intends to evaluate to what extent institutional ageism is perceived in the Portuguese healthcare system while developing an initial validation of the Portuguese version of the EVE discrimination questionnaire (EVE-D). First, the questionnaire was translated to Portuguese. Then, a sample of 500 physicians aged between 24 and 71 years old (M = 35.39; SD = 10.94), from 41 different medical specialties, responded to an online version of the Portuguese version of the EVE-D. The EVE-D showed good internal consistency (alpha = .844) and an exploratory factor analysis of the EVE-D revealed the existence of three main factors: 1. Perceived direct discrimination, with the exclusion of older adults from high-cost programs; 2. Perceived indirect discrimination, with the postponement of treatments/exams or the proposal of less complete treatments; and 3. Perceived discriminatory communication, with the infringement of the older adult's personal freedom and autonomy. Concerning the level of the perceived institutional ageism, physicians perceived higher levels of ageism in situations related to discriminatory forms of communication. Overall, our results highlight the need to rethink practices and implement measures in order to eradicate all forms of ageism in healthcare settings. Further validation studies are needed to refine this questionnaire.