Abstract | BACKGROUND: METHODS: The study team surveyed randomly selected US physicians nationwide representing seven specialties about their reported use of accessible weight scales and exam tables/chairs when caring for patients with mobility limitations. A descriptive analysis of responses was performed, and multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between accessible equipment and participants' characteristics. RESULTS: The 714 participants (survey response rate = 61.0%) were primarily male, White, and urban, and had practiced for 20 or more years. Among those reporting routinely recording patients' weights (n = 399), only 22.6% (standard error [SE] = 2.2) reported always or usually using accessible weight scales for patients with significant mobility limitations. To determine weights of patients with mobility limitations, 8.1% always, 24.3% usually, and 40.0% sometimes asked patients. Physicians practicing ≥ 20 years were much less likely than other physicians to use accessible weight scales: odds ratio (OR) = 0.51 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.26-0.99). Among participants seeing patients with significant mobility limitations (n = 584), only 40.3% (SE = 2.2) always or usually used accessible exam tables or chairs. Specialists were much more likely than primary care physicians to use accessible exam tables/chairs: OR = 1.96 (95% CI = 1.29-2.99). CONCLUSION: More than 30 years after enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, most physicians surveyed do not use accessible equipment for routine care of patients with chronic significant mobility limitations.
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Authors | Lisa I Iezzoni, Sowmya R Rao, Julie Ressalam, Dragana Bolcic-Jankovic, Karen Donelan, Nicole Agaronnik, Tara Lagu, Eric G Campbell |
Journal | Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety
(Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf)
Vol. 47
Issue 10
Pg. 615-626
(10 2021)
ISSN: 1938-131X [Electronic] Netherlands |
PMID | 34364797
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
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Copyright | Copyright © 2021 The Joint Commission. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Topics |
- Disabled Persons
- Examination Tables
- Health Services Accessibility
- Humans
- Male
- Mobility Limitation
- Physicians
- United States
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