Attitudes of Health Care Providers in Relation to Disability, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background Among the main barriers that prevent people with disabilities from seeking help and support are negative attitudes of society in general and health care professionals in particular. However, only a few studies looked into the attitudes of health care providers toward people with disabilities in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of health care providers in relation to people with disabilities. Participants and Methods The attitudes toward disabled persons (ATDP) scale was administered among n = 1,033 health care providers in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The data were analyzed using JASP version 19 and Orange 3.26.0. Demographic data were analyzed using dummy encoding. Results The mean ATDP score for 1,033 respondents was 58.03 (p = 0.000). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that respondents aged 24 to 25 years have significantly less positive attitudes, compared to participants aged 18 to 20 years (p = 0.004). No sufficient evidence was found whether marital status significantly affects attitudes toward people with disabilities. In contrast, participants with three or more children have a significantly (p = 0.014) less positive attitude compared to those who do not have children. Conclusion This study found that, overall, health care professionals had slightly negative attitudes, according to the ATDP scale. However, younger respondents and those without children were more positive. Future research is recommended to collect more data on the significance of having children and its association with attitudes toward disabilities. More educational programs are recommended that can increase attitudes and awareness about people with disabilities.