Eyes of Understanding: Ophthalmologists' Attitudes Towards Caring for People With Intellectual Disabilities in Clinical and Nonclinical Settings.

Participants were recruited by convenience sampling, so the response rate was unknown and the findings may not apply across Taiwan. The sample size was set by the research budget, so nonsignificant results may change with a larger sample. Participants came from professional societies and meetings, so they may have been more engaged and may have answered in a socially desirable way. Professionals with more positive attitudes may have been more likely to take the survey. The clinical scenario used an extreme case and items were ordered from most negative to most positive, which may have prompted fear or avoidance. Paper and online collection may have introduced differences in accessibility, response behaviour, and respondent demographics. The clinical attitude scale was developed for this study and has not been formally validated. Results were grouped as ophthalmologists, optometrists/opticians, and other health-care professionals, so findings for occupational therapists alone were not reported.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding came from the National Science and Technology Council and the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan.

Do not read ophthalmologists' higher clinical scores as proof that they are ready to care for people with intellectual disabilities. Several ophthalmologist responses to the clinical case were below the neutral point, and the study measured hypothetical attitudes in a convenience survey.