Attitudes of medical students and health-care professionals toward people with disabilities.

Abstract

This study used the Attitude Towards Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) to investigate differences in attitudes toward individuals with physical disabilities among first-year and fourth-year medical students and health-care professionals. Of 851 questionnaires sent out, 310 were returned, and 297 were used in the final analyses. The fourth-year medical students had significantly more positive attitudes toward people with physical disabilities when compared to the first-year medical students. Differences between health-care professionals and fourth-year medical students were nonsignificant. Across the sample, females, compared to males, and whites, compared to Asians, were found to hold significantly more positive attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. Contact with people with physical disabilities did not have to be on an equal-status basis to have a positive effect on attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. The need for health and educational disciplines to further the movement towards integration of people with physical disabilities was emphasized, and suggestions for future research were offered.