A cross-sectional Survey Study on Homophobia among Medical, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Other Health Sciences Students

Seren A. K. H., Bacaksiz F. E., Cakir H., YILMAZ S., SUKUT Ö., Turan S., ...Daha Fazla

JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY, cilt.70, sa.13, ss.3108-3124, 2023 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 70 Sayı: 13
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/00918369.2022.2087480
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ASSIA, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, ATLA Religion Database, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, Gender Studies Database, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, PAIS International, Psycinfo, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.3108-3124
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Medical student, nursing student, pharmacy student, health sciences student, LGBTI, homophobia, ATTITUDES, TRANSGENDER, GAY, KNOWLEDGE, GENDER, EDUCATION
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Since the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community may be exposed to violence, discrimination, stigma, exclusion, and maltreatment due to their sexual orientation while accessing healthcare services, understanding, and improving the attitudes of future's health care professionals toward LGBTI individuals seem essential. This descriptive and cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the homophobia among medical, nursing, pharmacy, and healthcare sciences students and examine the related factors. The study included 2,531 students from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and other health sciences (midwifery, nutrition and dietetics, physiotherapy, management of healthcare facilities) disciplines. Homophobia was measured with the Hudson and Ricketts Homophobia Scale. After getting ethical and institutional approvals, data were collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tests. Medical students had the lowest homophobia score, and their mean score was significantly lower than other students. There was a significant difference between students' scores according to years of study, age, sex, acquaintance with LGBTI individuals, providing healthcare services to an LGBTI person, and opinions on providing care. Although homophobia scores of nursing, pharmacy, and other health sciences students were lower than the medical students', policies and expansive content regarding LGBTI should be in place in all health science educational institutes, including medical schools, to prevent students from holding homophobic and prejudicial attitudes against LGBTI individuals.