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Medical students' attitudes toward persons with disability: A comparative study,☆☆,,★★

https://doi.org/10.1053/apmr.2002.34620Get rights and content

Abstract

Tervo RC, Azuma S, Palmer G, Redinius P. Medical students' attitudes toward persons with disability: a comparative study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1537-42. Objectives: To investigate first-year medical students' attitudes toward persons with disability and to examine whether gender and a background in disability determine attitudes toward persons with disability. Design: A cross-sectional survey. Setting: University settings in the United States and Canada. Participants: Ninety first-year medical students (US, n=46; Canada, n=44) were surveyed. Intervention: Medical students given 3 surveys. Main Outcome Measures: Attitude Toward Disabled Persons (ATDP) Scale, Scale of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (SADP), and Rehabilitation Situations Inventory (RSI). Results: There were no differences between the medical student groups from the United States and Canada. Compared with norms, medical students overall have more positive attitudes on the ATDP. Their attitudes were less positive on the SADP and on its optimism–human rights subscale. On the RSI, they were less comfortable with sexual situations and depression. Male medical students held poorer attitudes as scored than female medical students. Those with a background in disability were more comfortable dealing with challenging rehabilitation situations. Comfort with challenging rehabilitation situations showed significant differences across levels of experience but not gender. The more positive medical students' attitudes are toward persons with disability, the more likely they are to be comfortable with challenging rehabilitation situations. Conclusion: First-year medical students from the United States and Canada held similar attitudes and had less positive attitudes than SADP norms. Gender and background in disability influenced attitudes. Male medical students were more likely to hold negative attitudes. Specific educational experiences need to promote more positive attitudes. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Section snippets

Methods

This study used a cross-sectional survey design of the first-year medical school classes at the University of South Dakota (USD) and the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). Ninety first-year medical students, 46 at USD and 44 at U of S, were surveyed. All were enrolled at the schools of medicine, USD, Vermillion, SD, or U of S, Saskatoon, Sask. Surveys were distributed in both schools before class at the end of the second term. The surveys supported similar curricula at both medical schools

Reliability

The internal consistency of the items, the Cronbach α, which was used during initial creation of the ATDP, SADP, and RSI scales, was calculated (ATDP, α=.8550; SADP, α=.8190; RSI, α=.8827). The full scales were satisfactory for comparing the study groups because each had a Cronbach α greater than 0.7.

Demographic variables

Of the 90 first-year medical students, 53 were men and 37 women. The response rate from USD was 92% and from U of S, 80%. The mean age ± standard deviation (SD) was 24.25±3.97 years. Saskatchewan

Discussion

One goal of our study was to determine whether the attitudes toward persons with disability of medical students from similar geographic areas but dissimilar health care systems (Canada, United States) differed. The 2 first-year medical student cohorts surveyed are important examples because both were enrolled in medical schools that train primary care practitioners as an explicit mission and a larger percentage of these students will become family physicians. General practitioners are thought

Conclusion

First-year medical students in 2 different rural settings held similar attitudes toward persons with disability regardless of medical school location and had less positive attitudes on different dimensions of attitudes toward disability. First-year male medical students in the rural medical schools surveyed were at greater risk of holding negative attitudes. Those with a background in disability were more comfortable with challenging rehabilitation situations. The more positive their attitudes,

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    No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

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    Reprint requests to Raymond C. Tervo, MD, MSc, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, 200 E University Ave, St. Paul, MN 55101, e-mail: [email protected].

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