02748nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001653001400042653001000056653001500066653001500081100001200096700001100108700001000119700000900129700001000138700001200148700001100160700001100171700001100182700000900193700001000202245017100212856008000383300000900463490000700472520195300479022001402432       2016                            d10aAttitudes10aChina10aDisability10aCaregivers1 aZheng Q1 aTian Q1 aHao C1 aGu J1 aTao J1 aLiang Z1 aChen X1 aFang J1 aRuan J1 aAi Q1 aHao Y00aComparison of attitudes toward disability and people with disability among caregivers, the public, and people with disability: findings from a cross-sectional survey.  uhttp://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-3670-0  a10240 v163 a<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>A negative attitude toward disability is one of the potential barriers for people with disability (PWD) to achieve social equality. Although numerous studies have investigated attitudes toward disability, few have evaluated personal attitudes toward disability among PWD, and made comparisons with attitudes of healthy respondents. This study was to investigate and compare the attitudes of PWD, caregivers, and the public toward disability and PWD in China, to identify discrepancies in attitude among the three groupsand to examine potential influencing factors of attitude within each group.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2912 PWD, 507 caregivers, and 354 members of the public in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected on participants' socio-demographic information and personal attitudes toward disability using the Attitude to Disability Scale (ADS). ANOVA and ANCOVA were applied to compare the level of attitude among the three groups. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between each background factor and attitude within each group.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Over 90&nbsp;% of caregivers were PWD's family members. After controlling the socio-demographic characteristics, caregivers had the lowest total scores of ADS (caregivers: 47.7; PWD: 52.3; the public: 50.5). Caregivers who had taken care of PWD for longer durations of time had a more negative attitude toward disability. In contrast, PWD who had been disabled for longer times had a more positive attitude toward disability.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>The current national social security system of China does not adequately support PWD's family-member caregivers who may need assistance coping with their life with PWDs. More research is needed, and the development of a new health-care model for PWD is warranted.</p>
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