General practitioners' attitudes towards patients with disabilities: the need for training and support.
OBJECTIVE
Some general practitioners (GPs) report discomfort in caring for people with disabilities. These feelings may impede the provision of quality health care to these patients.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey interviewed 600 GPs in southeastern France and assessed their personal and professional characteristics, their attitudes and opinions towards people with disabilities, and their knowledge and practices in this field.


RESULTS
21.3% of the GP reported discomfort in treating people with mental impairments and 8.2% people with physical impairments. Discomfort with either type of impairment was more frequent among GPs who perceived frequent communication problems with persons with disabilities (p < 0.05) or who did not belong to a professional network (p < 0.10). GPs who reported less experience with the disabled patients (p < 0.05), no medical training about disabilities (p = 0.04), a lack of assistance during consultations (p = 0.02), and inadequate consultation time (p = 0.09) expressed more discomfort in caring for patients with mental impairments. GPs' discomfort was associated with their assessment of the patient's level of disability among patients with physical impairments (p = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that substantial obstacles related to GPs' attitudes impede the delivery of quality health care to patients with disabilities and that GPs need more support and guidance in dealing with them. These results raise also the issue of adequate time and remuneration for consultations with these patients.
Aulagnier
Marielle
M
South-eastern France Regional Center for Disease Control, 23 rue Stanislas Torrents, F-13006 Marseilles, France. aulagnier@marseille.inserm.fr
Verger
Pierre
P
Ravaud
Jean-François
JF
Souville
Marc
M
Lussault
Pierre-Yves
PY
Garnier
Jean-Pierre
JP
Paraponaris
Alain
A
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires