Knowledge, attitude and willingness of Nigerian physiotherapists to provide care for patients living with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
Adequate knowledge, positive attitude, and willingness to provide services are important factors in rendering competent and compassionate care to patients living with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Inadequate knowledge and poor attitude could exclude the application of the principles of logic and scientific methods to the practice of physiotherapy, and could result in fragmented care, with a potentially negative impact on treatment outcome and patient satisfaction. The purpose of this study was (1) to investigate the Nigerian physiotherapists' global knowledge, attitude and willingness to provide care for patients living with AIDS (PLWA), and to (2) determine the relationship between socio-demographic variables and previous encounter with PLWA, and physiotherapists' knowledge, attitude and willingness to care for AIDS survivors.


METHODS
Using a 90-item two-part questionnaire that elicited sociodemographic and previous AIDS encounter information, and also assessed knowledge, attitude and willingness to provide care to PLWA, physiotherapists (N = 131) practicing in Nigeria were surveyed.


RESULTS
Overall, the physiotherapists showed unsatisfactory knowledge about AIDS, harbored negative attitude towards PLWA, and some were unwilling to provide care for PLWA. Previous experience caring for PLWA influenced their attitude, and modest but positive relationships were found between knowledge and attitude and between attitude and willingness.


CONCLUSIONS
The study underscores the need to address Nigerian physiotherapists' working knowledge deficits and negative attitudes to PLWA. A comprehensive AIDS education that would assist clinicians in exploring their attitude, stereotype and bias against PLWA is warranted.
Oyeyemi
Adetoyeje
A
State University of New York College of Health Related Profession, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA. oyeyemia@nychhc.org
Oyeyemi
Adewale
A
Abegunde
Alfred
A
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty; D016079:Refusal to Treat; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult