ArticleBMC medical education2020
Has teaching about intellectual disability healthcare in Australian medical schools improved? A 20-year comparison of curricula audits.
Article in BMC medical education, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of intellectual and developmental disability curriculum in international pre-graduate health professional education.BMC medical education · 2023Pooled it
- Identifying Key Gaps: A Qualitative Exploration of Physicians-in-Training Caring for Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2026Article
- Disability education in Korean medical school curricula: current status and challenges.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Participant perceptions of disability training for health workers: a qualitative study in Ghana.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- The Role of Specialised Medical ID Expertise in Care Consultations for People With Intellectual Disabilities: Experiences of Caregivers and Patients.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2025Article
- Experiences, attitudes, and knowledge of medical students regarding intellectual and developmental disability: a Canadian study.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Disability and narrative medicine: Challenges and opportunities.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2024Review
- The need for co-educators to drive a new model of inclusive, person-centred and respectful co-healthcare with people with intellectual disability.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- "Can you hear me now?": a qualitative exploration of communication quality in virtual primary care encounters for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Exploring views on medical care for people with intellectual disabilities: an international concept mapping study.International journal for equity in health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPeople with intellectual disability (ID) have multiple and complex health needs, more frequent healthcare episodes, and experience poorer health outcomes. Research conducted two decades ago showed that medical professionals were lacking in the knowledge and skills required to address the complex needs of this patient group. The aim of the current study was to determine whether Australian undergraduate medical schools that offer ID health education content had changed the amount and nature of such teaching over this period.
methodsIdentical or equivalent questionnaire items were compared across eight Australian medical schools that participated in curricula audits conducted in 1995 (referred to as T1) and 2013/14 (T2). The audits were of the nature of the ID content, methods used to teach it, and who taught it.
resultsThere was no significant difference in the number of hours of compulsory ID content offered to medical students at T2 (total = 158.3 h; median = 2.8 h per ID unit) compared with T1 (total = 171 h; median = 2.5 h). At T2 compared with T1, units with ID content taught in the area of general practice had increased (2 units; 3.6% to 7 units; 16.3%), while decreases were seen in paediatrics (22 units; 40.0% to 10 units; 23.3%) and psychiatry (10 units; 18.2% to 4 units; 9.3%). The number of schools using problem- and/or enquiry-based learning rose to six at T2 from one at T1. Inclusive teaching practices (people with ID develop or deliver content) in compulsory/elective units had increased at T2 (10 units; 23.3%) compared with T1 (6 units; 10.9%), but direct clinical contact with people with ID had decreased (29 units; 52.7% to 11 units; 25.6%).
conclusionsOverall, little progress has been made to address the gaps in ID education for medical students identified from an audit conducted in 1995. Renewal of ID content in medical curricula is indicated as a key element in efforts to improve workforce capacity in this area and reduce barriers to care, with the aim of reversing the poor health outcomes currently seen for this group.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.