Self-acceptance and Attitude towards Disability among People with Disability Attending a Nigerian Tertiary Health Facility

Acceptance of disability status and positive attitude towards disability may be modulating factors in improving quality of life of individuals with disability. Although many studies have investigated attitudes toward disability, none has evaluated personal attitude towards disability among People With Disability (PWD) in Nigeria. This study was to investigate self-acceptance and attitude towards disability among PWD in Nigeria and to examine factors influencing their attitudes. A cross-sectional design was employed to recruit 260 PWD consecutively from out-patient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Data were collected on participants’ socio-demographic information, disability and attitude towards disability using World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule and Attitudes toward Disabled Persons Form A (ATDP-A) questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Poisson regression was applied to assess factors associated with attitudes. ATDP- A score was 92.7 ± 21.1 (ranged, 34-170) with more participants (54%) having a score ≥90 which indicates a positive attitude and acceptance of their disabilities. Item-by-item analysis of responses to 30 items on ATDP-A Scale showed that negative attitudes were preponderant on items relating to their emotional and competitiveness. PWD largely held positive attitude towards disability and this remained unchanged when stratified by disability severity. Factors such as educational level, mild disability, younger age, type and duration of disability were associated with positive attitude held towards disability. In conclusion, PWDs largely held positive attitude, accepted their disability status irrespective of disability severity though negative attitudes were more on items relating to their emotion and competitiveness.