Abstract Details

Title Predictors of Resident Physician Comfort with Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Topic Child Neurology and Developmental Neurology

Presentation(s) P13 - Poster Session 13 (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 6-003

Background

Individuals with IDD experience worse health outcomes compared to their peers without a disability partly due to difficulties accessing age-appropriate health care. One of the main barriers to individuals with IDD accessing care is provider discomfort interacting and caring for this population.

Objective

To describe resident physicians’ comfort levels, education, and experiences regarding individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD), identify perceived barriers to caring for this population, and identify predictors of increased comfort levels.

Design/Methods

We used surveys which included the validated Interactions with Disabled Persons Scale to collect data from seven residency programs on residents’ prior education and experiences with people with IDD and to evaluate resident comfort levels interacting with and treating individuals with IDD.

Results 423 out of 1,344 residents completed surveys (response rate 31.5%). 96% reported they had treated a patient with IDD; 25% reported having formal education regarding IDD. The highest rated barrier to caring for patients with IDD was lack of knowledge about available resources. On a scale of 1-6 (1: “very uncomfortable” and 6: “very comfortable”), residents rated their comfort interacting with and treating patients with IDD a mean of 3.88 and 3.73, respectively: between “a little uncomfortable” and “a little comfortable.” In univariate analysis, amount of experience with people with IDD, training in a pediatric-focused residency specialty, and number of hours of dedicated to education regarding caring for people with IDD were positively associated with increased comfort interacting with and treating individuals with IDD. Only prior experience with people with IDD remained statistically significantly correlated with the comfort scores when other variables were controlled for.

Conclusions Resident physicians are only mildly comfortable interacting and treating individuals with IDD. The more experience a resident had with this population, the more comfortable they were caring for them.

Authors/Disclosures
Jessica Sanders, MD (University of Colorado) PRESENTER	The institution of Dr. Sanders has received research support from Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health. The institution of Dr. Sanders has received research support from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Hannah Shapiro, MD (UCSF)	Dr. Shapiro has nothing to disclose.