Past Issues

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association between the attitudes among medical clerks in southern Taiwan towards gay men and lesbian women and the clerks' intentions to provide care for gay individuals, and certain demographic factors relating to such clerks, such as educational background, sexual orientation, knowledge about homosexuality, and past experiences and contact with homosexual people. Methods: In total, 198 medical clerks from a medical university in southern Taiwan were recruited for participation in this study. These clerks' attitudes toward people with a homosexual orientation were assessed by means of the Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Questionnaire, and their intentions to provide medical care to homosexual individuals and related factors were also examined. Results: A total of 186 medical clerks (93.9% of those approached) completed the questionnaires. The results revealed that medical clerks who were female, were not absolutely heterosexual, did not regularly attend religious activities, revealed higher levels of knowledge about homosexuality, and who had friends, acquaintances or relatives who featured a homosexual orientation, appeared to exhibit a more-positive attitude toward homosexuality. Consequently, medical clerks who appeared to demonstrate a more-positive attitude toward homosexuality, who tended to associate with friends, acquaintances or relatives featuring a homosexual orientation and who were from the seven-year medical-training program revealed a more-pronounced intention to care for homosexual people. Conclusions: Those factors related to attitudes toward homosexuality and intention to care for homosexual people identified in this study have to be taken into consideration when intervening for medical clerks' attitudes toward caring, and their intention to care, for homosexual people.