Problems with Medical Instrumentation Experienced by Patients with Disabilities

Abstract

Methods employed to conduct a national survey designed to identify some of the difficulties that people with disabilities have experienced as patients using medical instrumentation for healthcare are described, and results from the survey are presented. A Delphi study was conducted to refine the questionnaire, which was then distributed nationally, primarily via the Internet. The initial respondent pool was not representative of the racial, ethnic, age, and disability distribution of the population and data gathering is ongoing. Preliminary results are that a majority of respondents reported moderate to extreme difficulty with a range of common medical equipment and furniture, such as examination tables and weight scales. Subsequent studies will evaluate the identified problems in greater depth.