A new measure of physicians' erroneous assumptions towards adults with intellectual disability: A first study

Abstract

Background: Incomplete knowledge and unfamiliarity with intellectual disability (ID) contribute to erroneous assumptions of physicians towards ID, which negatively impact the health equity of people with ID. This study aimed to identify the erroneous assumptions that, based on the ID stakeholders' perceptions, were the most prevalent in physicians and damaging for the healthcare of adults with ID, verify their unidimensionality and that no personal characteristics of ID stakeholders were associated with their ratings of erroneous assumptions' prevalence and damage. Methods: Seventy-four possible physician erroneous assumptions were developed concerning health, daily living skills and quality of life of individuals with ID. ID stakeholders rated each one for perceived prevalence in physicians and damage for the healthcare of adults with ID. Frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis and correlations were run separately for participants' prevalence and damage ratings. Results: Twenty-seven erroneous assumptions were identified as those perceived most prevalent and damaging. Their unidimensionality was ascertained and participants' characteristics were not associated with their prevalence and damage ratings. Conclusions: The identified assumptions are appropriate to represent the items of a new instrument that can be used in medical education to guide the development of curricula to change erroneous assumptions.