Prevalence and characteristics of disabilities in physicians in Canada: an analysis of Canadian Census data

Despite the importance of equity and accessibility with respect to the medical workforce in Canada, limited data exist on physicians with disabilities. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and types of disabilities among physicians and compare them with other occupations.

We performed a population-based cross-sectional study using weighted data from the 2021 mandatory Canadian long-form Census, obtained from Statistics Canada. Participants included those working in Canada, categorized into physicians, non-health care professionals (lawyers, engineers, professors), nurses, and the remaining working population. We calculated the prevalence of self-reported disabilities overall and by type (mental health, visual, hearing, mobility or physical, cognitive or learning) among physicians. We compared variation in disability by age, sex, and specialty. We compared physicians to other occupations using age-sex standardization and calculated adjusted odds ratios (OR).

Of 16 468 900 individuals, 89 760 (0.6%) were physicians (mean age [standard deviation] 48.1 yr [13.0], 54.5% male). The prevalence of respondents reporting a disability always or often was 5.0%, including mental health (2.0%), visual (1.8%), hearing (0.7%), mobility or physical (0.6%), and cognitive or learning (0.3%) disabilities. Overall, the prevalence of disability increased with age, primarily owing to increasing hearing and mobility or physical disabilities, whereas mental health disabilities were more common at younger ages. Male physicians (4.5%) reported lower (adjusted OR 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71 to 0.80) prevalence of disability than female physicians (6.0%). The age-sex standardized prevalence of disabilities in physicians (5.3%) was lower than in non-health care professionals (7.8%; adjusted OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.44 to 1.53), nurses (9.2%; adjusted OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.69 to 1.79), and the remaining working population (10.8%; adjusted OR 2.21, 95% CI 2.15 to 2.27). When we broadened disability to include impairments reported sometimes, the overall prevalence of disability among physicians increased to 17.0%.

One in 20 practising Canadian physicians reports always or often experiencing a disability, which was less than other occupations. These Census-based estimates provide a national benchmark to inform efforts to improve accessibility and sustainability in the physician workforce.