Developing a measure of blind patients' interactions with their healthcare providers.
Nazanin Heydarian, Osvaldo Morera, Scott Frankowski
PMID 32088117WHAT IT FOUND
Blind patients can report how healthcare providers view them through a new survey.
It separates general healthcare experience from perceptions of being pitied or seen as incompetent. This may help clinicians notice patient concerns, but it does not prove any interaction improves care.
Key findings
01Blind patients' responses separated into general healthcare experience and stereotype-related perceptions.
02Higher general healthcare experience was associated with more satisfaction, more trust, and less perceived discrimination.
03Many blind patients reported feeling viewed as incompetent, and many considered it their responsibility to correct misconceptions about blindness.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study tested a survey, not a treatment. It cannot show that using the survey improves patient care. Participants were people who are blind, so the results may not apply to patients with other disabilities. Recruitment used listserves, social media, and word-of-mouth, which may have favoured people already connected to blindness organisations. Study 2 had a data recording error for one item, leaving 20 items tested. The survey scores were unexpectedly related to social desirability.
Declared interests
The article is marked as supported by NIH and non-U.S. government research support. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that using the scale improves care. The study tested how blind patients report provider interactions, not whether any provider behaviour or training changed patient outcomes.