East Montgomery Times

Patients with disabilities are reportedly less likely to feel respected by healthcare providers, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The study found that these patients also struggle more with understanding information provided by their healthcare providers compared to those without disabilities. These findings have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Mihir Kakara, MBBS, MSHP, who led the study as a neurology fellow and is now an assistant professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, emphasized the impact of perceived disrespect on patient engagement. "People with disabilities make up 20 percent of American adults. This group already faces multiple barriers to accessing care, and they have large disparities in health outcomes. When they perceive disrespect from their providers, it can make them less proactive in engaging with the health care system, especially preventative care," Kakara stated.

The research revealed that 2.9 percent of people without disabilities felt disrespected by their healthcare providers compared to 4.8 percent among those with disabilities. Patients with conditions affecting vision, hearing, mental health, and cognitive abilities reported feeling disrespected at nearly double the rate of those without disabilities.

Jaya Aysola, MD, DTMH, MPH, senior author and executive director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement said: “These findings prove that we must continuously strive toward ensuring our patient care is culturally humble and inclusive.” She added that while standards exist under the Americans with Disabilities Act, they should be considered a starting point rather than an endpoint.

The data for this analysis was sourced from 2017’s National Health Interview Study involving nearly 23,000 participants who had visited a healthcare provider in the past year. About 20 percent identified as having a disability.

Further analysis showed gaps in communication: 11.3 percent of patients with disabilities felt instructions were not clear compared to 7.1 percent without disabilities. Additionally, 44.9 percent of patients with disabilities reported not being asked for their opinions about their care versus 41.1 percent without disabilities.

In response to these findings and recognizing people with disabilities as a population facing health disparities due to social disadvantages since 2023 by NIH designation—Aysola and Kakara advocate for follow-up studies on potential health implications and systemic policy effects on this group.

Kakara highlighted patient-centered care practices such as maintaining eye contact or providing large print instructions as ways to better meet needs and preferences: “It's about empowering and meeting the needs and preferences of our patients.”

The study underscores a need for disability-inclusive training within medical education to close existing gaps in patient-centered models across healthcare systems.

Kakara's work received funding support through an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality T32 training grant during this study period.