Down syndrome: Knowledge and attitudes among future healthcare providers

Knowledge and attitudes regarding Down syndrome (DS) are important determinants of care, support and inclusion for people with DS. The study was aimed at evaluating the knowledge and attitudes of medical and health sciences students, as future healthcare providers, regarding people with DS.

The study used a cross sectional survey design and was performed at a medical and health sciences university in the United Arab Emirates. A study-specific, field-tested and validated questionnaire was used to record the responses of the students.

Overall, 74.0% of the study respondents reported positive knowledge regarding DS, with a median knowledge score of 14.0 (IQR 11.0-17.0). Likewise, 67.2% of the study respondents had positive attitudes toward people with DS, with a median attitude score of 7.5 (IQR 4.0-9.0). Age >25 years (aOR: 4.39, 95% CI: 1.88-21.93), female gender (aOR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.16-3.07), enrollment in nursing college (aOR: 3.53, 95% CI: 1.84-6.77), senior year of study (aOR: 9.10, 95% CI: 1.94-42.65) and single relationship status (aOR: 9.16, 95% CI: 4.19-20.01) were independent predictors of knowledge level. Moreover, independent predictors of attitudes included age >25 years (aOR: 10.60, 95% CI: 1.78-62.96), senior year of study (aOR: 11.57, 95% CI: 3.20-41.83) and single relationship status (aOR: 7.23, 95% CI: 3.46-15.11).

Age, gender, college, year of study and marital status were significant predictors of the knowledge and attitudes of medical and health sciences students regarding people with DS. We report positive knowledge and attitudes regarding people with DS among our sample of future health care providers. Further research is warranted to investigate knowledge and attitudes over time and actual implementation in practice.