Barriers to Healthcare: Instrument Development and Comparison Between Autistic Adults and Adults With and Without Other Disabilities

Authors

Dora M. Raymaker, Portland State UniversityFollow
Katherine E. McDonald, Syracuse UniversityFollow
Elesia Ashkenazy, Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and EducationFollow
Martha Gerrity, Oregon Health & Science UniversityFollow
Amelia E.V. Baggs, Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and EducationFollow
Clarissa Kripke, University of California, San FranciscoFollow
Sarah Hourston, Oregon Health & Science University
Christina Nicolaidis, Portland State UniversityFollow

Sponsor

AASPIRE’s work is supported by National Institute of Mental Health grant number R34MH092503; Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) grant number UL1 RR024140 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research; Portland State University; and the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University.

Published In

Autism

Document Type

Citation

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

Our objective was to use a community-based participatory research approach to identify and compare barriers to healthcare experienced by autistic adults and adults with and without other disabilities. To do so, we developed a Long- and Short-Form instrument to assess barriers in clinical and research settings. Using the Barriers to Healthcare Checklist–Long Form, we surveyed 437 participants (209 autistic, 55 non-autistic with disabilities, and 173 non-autistic without disabilities). Autistic participants selected different and greater barriers to healthcare, particularly in areas related to emotional regulation, patient-provider communication, sensory sensitivity, and healthcare navigation. Top barriers were fear or anxiety (35% (n = 74)), not being able to process information fast enough to participate in real-time discussions about healthcare (32% (n = 67)), concern about cost (30% (n = 62)), facilities causing sensory issues 30% ((n = 62)), and difficulty communicating with providers (29% (n = 61)). The Long Form instrument exhibited good content and construct validity. The items combined to create the Short Form had predominantly high levels of correlation (range 0.2–0.8, p < 0.001) and showed responsiveness to change. We recommend healthcare providers, clinics, and others working in healthcare settings to be aware of these barriers, and urge more intervention research to explore means for removing them.

Description

© The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361316661261

DOI

10.1177/1362361316661261

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/23140

Citation Details

Raymaker D, McDonald K, Ashkenazy, E., Gerrity, M., Baggs, A.M., Kripke, C., Hourston, S., Nicolaidis, C. (2016). Barriers to healthcare: Instrument development and comparison between adults on the autism spectrum and adults with and without other disabilities. Autism. Vol 21, Issue 8, pp. 972 - 984.