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ORTHOTICS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2, 2018; ABSTRACT, POSTER PRESENTATION AT THE AOPA’S 101ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEPT. 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018.  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32046                                                                       

1 

 
OPEN  ACCESS 

 

AOPA’S 101 ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ABSTRACTS, SEPTEMBER 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018 
 

ABSTRACT (POSTER PRESENTATION) 

HEALTH CARE ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES: 

BARRIERS AND RISK FACTORS IMPACTING CARE 

Abbey Senczyszyn*,  J. Chad Duncan 

Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, USA.  
*Email: abbey.senczyszyn@northwestern.edu  

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32046  

 

BACKGROUND 

Healthcare professionals have certain professional, legal, 

and ethical obligations that they must fulfill with each 

patient interaction. Though professional and legal 

obligations may vary between fields of practice, the core 

ethical responsibility remains the same: provide just 

health care1. This requires that healthcare professionals 

are aware of systemic and institutional factors that lead 

to disparity and discrimination in the provision of health 

services1. Disability is a complex construct that can be 

related to various factors related to health condition as 

well as social and environmental factors that influence 

participation. This complexity results in varying 

definitions; the ICF model of disability was used in this 

research2. 

 
Figure 1. ICF Framework2 

 

METHODS 

Inclusion Criteria: 

• Health care in the United States 

• Individuals with a physical disability or limitation 

• Discussion of disparity and accessibility related to the 

provision of healthcare 

• Publication date of January 1, 2014 or later 

• Data from 2010 or later 

• Age 18 and older 

 

Exclusion Criteria: 

• Studies irrelevant to health care in the United States 

• Individuals with a mental disability or hard of hearing 

• Specialty care irrelevant to the purposes of this study 

• Pediatric patient population 

• Full text not available. 

 

 
 

https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32046


 

 

Senczyszyn A,  Duncan J.C.  HEALTH CARE ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES: BARRIERS AND RISK FACTORS IMPACTING CARE. CANADIAN PROSTHETICS & 

ORTHOTICS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2, 2018; ABSTRACT, POSTER PRESENTATION AT THE AOPA’S 101ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEPT. 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018.  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32046                                                                       

2 

 
OPEN  ACCESS 

 

AOPA’S 101 ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ABSTRACTS, SEPTEMBER 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018 
 

ABSTRACT (POSTER PRESENTATION) 

PRELIMINARY RESULTS: ACCESS 

BARRIERS 

 

 
 

 
 

Figure 2. Commonly cited barriers preventing access to 

healthcare evaluated in current literature3,5-8,10-12,15,20-21 

 

PRELIMINARY RESULTS: RISK FACTORS 

 
 

Figure 3. Commonly cited risk factors potentially resulting in 

healthcare disparity evaluated in current literature3-5, 8-11,13-14,16-

22. 

 

LIMITATION 

• Non-homogenous populations 

• Varying data sources. 

DISCUSSION 

Disparity in the provision of health care is not a new topic 

of discussion; however, past research has primarily 

focused on age, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic 

disparities related to health care. Recently, arguments 

have been made that people with disability also 

experience disparity in the receipt of health care services. 

This research sought to compile the most commonly 

cited factors that are thought to factor into this inequality. 

Despite the implementation of various legislative 

measures including the Americans with Disability Act 

and, more recently, the Patient Protection and Affordable 

Care Act, disparity still exists in the provision of health 

care. The most commonly cited barriers include 

transportation5,7,9-11,14,19-20, care coordination4-5,9-11,14, and 

physical access to a health care provider7,10-11,14,19-20. 

Certain groups are more likely to experience these 

barriers to care, the most commonly cited significant 

factors being age9-10,13,15-16,19,21, race/ethnicity9,12-13,15-21, 

and gender10,15,18-19. 

REFERENCES 

1. American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. (2011). 

Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultation (2nd 

ed.). Glenview, IL: Author. 

2. World Health Organization. International Classification of 

Functioning, Disability, and Health. Geneva, Switzerland: 

World Health Organization; 2001. 

3. Gulley SP, Rasch EK, Chan L. Difference, disparity, and 

disability: a comparison of health, insurance coverage, and 

health service use on the basis of race/ethnicity among US 

adults with disabilities, 2006-2008. Medical care. 2014;52(10 

Suppl 3):S9-16. DOI:10.1097/MLR.0000000000000129 

4. Bogner et al. Patient Satisfaction and Perceived Quality of 

Care Among Older Adults According to Activity Limitation 

Stages. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation. 

2015;96(10):1810-9. DOI:10.1016/j.apmr.2015.06.005 

5. Hall JP, Kurth NK, Chapman SL, Shireman TI. Medicaid 

managed care: issues for beneficiaries with disabilities. 

Disability and health journal. 2015;8(1):130-5. DOI: 

10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.08.010 

6. Kennedy J, Wood EG, Frieden L. Disparities in Insurance 

Coverage, Health Services Use, and Access Following 

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act: A Comparison of 

Disabled and Nondisabled Working-Age Adults. Inquiry : a 

journal of medical care organization, provision and financing. 

2017. DOI:10.1177/0046958017734031 

7. Krahn GL, Walker DK, Correa-De-Araujo R. Persons with 

disabilities as an unrecognized health disparity population. 

American journal of public health. 2015;105 Suppl 2:S198-

206. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302182  

8. Lin S-F, Beck AN, Finch BK. Black–white disparity in 

disability among U.S. older adults: Age, period, and cohort 

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Sciences and Social Sciences. 2014;69(5):784-97. 

https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbu010 

https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000000129
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2015.06.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.08.010
https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958017734031
https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbu010


 

 

Senczyszyn A,  Duncan J.C.  HEALTH CARE ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES: BARRIERS AND RISK FACTORS IMPACTING CARE. CANADIAN PROSTHETICS & 

ORTHOTICS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2, 2018; ABSTRACT, POSTER PRESENTATION AT THE AOPA’S 101ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEPT. 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018.  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32046                                                                       

3 

 
OPEN  ACCESS 

 

AOPA’S 101 ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ABSTRACTS, SEPTEMBER 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018 
 

ABSTRACT (POSTER PRESENTATION) 

9. McClintock HF, Kurichi JE, Kwong PL, Xie D, Streim JE, 

Pezzin LE, et al. Disability Stages and Trouble Getting Needed 

Health Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries. American journal 

of physical medicine & rehabilitation. 2017;96(6):408-16. 
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10. Pezzin LE, Bogner HR, Kurichi JE, Kwong PL, Streim JE, 

Xie D, et al. Preventable hospitalizations, barriers to care, and 

disability. Medicine. 2018;97(19):e0691. DOI: 

10.1097/MD.0000000000010691 

11. Bauer SE, Schumacher JR, Hall A, Marlow NM, Friedel C, 

Scheer D, et al. Disability and physical and communication-

related barriers to health care related services among Florida 

residents: A brief report. Disability and health journal. 

2016;9(3):552-6. DOI:10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.03.001 

12.Brenner AB, Clarke PJ. Understanding Socioenvironmental 

Contributors to Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Disability 

Among Older Americans. Research on Aging. 

2018;40(2):103-30. DOI:10.1177/0164027516681165 

13.Brucker DL, Rollins NG. Trips to medical care among 

persons with disabilities: Evidence from the 2009 National 

Household Travel Survey. Disability and health journal. 

2016;9(3):539-43. DOI:10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.01.001 

14. de Vries McClintock HF, Barg FK, Katz SP, Stineman 

MG, Krueger A, Colletti PM, et al. Health care experiences 

and perceptions among people with and without disabilities. 

Disability and health journal. 2016;9(1):74-82. 

DOI:10.1016/j.dhjo.2015.08.007 

15. Dobbertin K, Horner-Johnson W, Lee JC, Andresen EM. 

Subgroup differences in having a usual source of health care 

among working-age adults with and without disabilities. 

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10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.08.012 

16. Gimm G, Blodgett E, Zanwar P. Examining access to care 

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17. Horner-Johnson W, Dobbertin K. Usual source of care and 

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DOI:10.1097/MLR.0000000000000193 

18. Mahmoudi E, Meade MA. Disparities in access to health 

care among adults with physical disabilities: Analysis of a 

representative national sample for a ten-year period. Disability 

and health journal. 2015;8(2):182-90. DOI: 

10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.08.007 

 

19. Ryan J, Abrams MK, Doty MM, Shah T, Schneider EC. 

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2016;43:1-20. 

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S. Health care utilization and barriers experienced by 

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DOI:10.1016/j.apmr.2014.02.005 

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access for Americans with chronic disease under the 

Affordable Care Act. Ann Intern Med. 2017; 166(7):472-479. 

DOI:10.7326/M16-1256 

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & DISCLOSURE 

I would like to thank Dr. J. Chad Duncan for his help during 

this project: providing guidance and feedback during the 

development of this research. This research was developed as 

part of the NUPOC curriculum. No funding sources or 

sponsorships were provided during the completion of this 

research. 

 

 

https://doi.org/10.1097/PHM.0000000000000638
https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000010691
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.03.001
https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027516681165
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.01.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2015.08.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.08.012
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2015.12.004
https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000000193
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.08.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2014.02.005
https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-1256

