Attitude towards, contact with people with disabilities and knowledge of disability among health science undergraduates in a Nigerian university

Abstract

Background: This study assessed health sciences undergraduates attitude toward and contact with people with disability (PWD), knowledge of disability (KD) as well as their association with each of gender, ethnicity, level and program of study. Methods: Using a stratified random sampling technique, 267 undergraduates of the College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, responded to this cross-sectional survey yielding a response rate of 89%. A structured self-administered questionnaire on attitude toward contact with PWDs and KD was used to assess attitude, contact, and knowledge of the respondents. Procedure was explained to respondents who consented for this study and data were subsequently obtained. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics at P < 0.05. Results: About 62.9% of the respondents had positive attitude toward PWDs with the majority being females (68.9%), students of Igbo ethnicity (89.7%), 4 th year students (86.1%) and nursing students (70.5%). Over 70% had good KD, however, the majority (91.4%) had little or no contact with PWDs. KD was significantly associated with respondents ethnicity (χ 2 = 8.57; P < 0.05) and year of study (χ 2 = 38.34; P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a relationship between the attitude toward PWDs and KD of respondents (r = 0.24; P < 0.001). Conclusion: The authors, therefore, concluded that Nigerian health sciences undergraduates have positive attitude toward PWDs, good KD but low contact with PWDs.

Nursing Students' Communication, Attitude and Willingness to Care for Persons with Disabilities

“…In the present study, most of the participants were female. This is due to feminization nature of nursing profession in Egypt which is consistent with the previous Spain studies of Castanyer (14) and Ruiz et al (15) and the Nigerian study of Olaoye et al (16) .…”

“…Similarly, Polikandrioti et al (17) in Greece, found that 68.8% and 68.7% of nursing students in their first and seventh semester, respectively, had no prior exposure to persons with disabilities. Likewise, Olaoye et al (16) found that most of the participants (91.4%) reported having little or no contact with PWDs. However, Ruiz et al (15) reported that 44% of the participants had never interacted with persons with disabilities.…”

The Attitudes of Nurses in the Hospital toward Vulnerable People

“…This study also found that there is a positive correlation between attitude and knowledge (p = 0.033). Knowledge of disabilities has a positive impact on attitudes [35], [36], [37], creates awareness about disabilities [36], [37], and prevents discriminatory behavior [35]. In this study, based on the range of the questionnaire scores, the nurses' attitude score toward PwDs tended to be low.…”

“…In fact, the quality of contact with PwDs is the dominant factor in influencing the attitude scores [10]. Nevertheless, a more positive attitude does not guarantee a better interaction with PwDs [35]. In addition, other studies also showed that contact with PwDs does not have a significant impact on nurses' attitudes [40].…”

Status of Inclusive Healthcare Services in Nigeria

“…In a study of 267 undergraduate health sciences students at Obafemi Awolowo University, southwestern Nigeria, the researchers (Olaoye, et al, 2017) found that 63% of aspiring professionals had a "positive" attitude toward PWDs, over 70% had "good" knowledge of disabilities, but the large majority (92%) had experienced little or no contact with PWDs. In a study in southeastern Nigeria at Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Ihegihi et al ( 2022) recruited 293 healthcare professionals.…”