Attitude of Doctors Towards Homosexuality at a Medical College, West Bengal, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Attitude towards homosexuality varies differently in different parts of the world. But, almost everywhere social stigma and marginalisation make them vulnerable to poor health and social outcomes. So, physicians should be made aware and sensitive about this issue in order to provide optimal care without any prejudices and discrimination. Aim: To assess the attitude of the doctors towards the homosexuality at a Medical College, West Bengal, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for three months from August 2021 and October 2021 at Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India. A predesigned, pretested, structured questionnaire was distributed to each of the faculty members of this medical college. The questionnaire was kept anonymous for name, religion, department or academic qualification and began with asking questions on age and sex. It consisted of 18 statements, nine substatements of relevant attitude along with additional specific comments on the subject. The faculty members were requested to put the filled up questionnaires in a drop box placed at a designated area in the Department of Psychiatry. In this way responses were finally obtained from 56 out of total 69 faculty members. All of them were postgraduate degree holders. The attitude scores were compared on the basis of age and sex using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. A p-value was calculated to find the association of attitude score with age and gender groups. Results: Among the study participants 21 (37.5%) were in ≥50 years age group, 18 (32.1%) in 40-49 years age group and 17 (30.4%) in ≤40 years age group. Males were 41 (73.2%) and females were 15 (26.8%). Forty six (82.2%) participants agreed that homosexuality is “constitutionally determined” (an inherent fundamental right as per Indian constitution). However 34 (60.7%) did not believe it to be a “sexual orientation”. Half of the participants are of the opinion that “homosexuals are easily recognizable”. Forty three (76.8%) respondents are of the opinion that “homosexuals should not be employed in school”. Also 41 (73.2%) believed that “homosexuals are danger to children”. Only 23 (41.1%) generally agreed that they “did not feel embarrassed while talking about homosexuality”. Just above half of the participants agreed that they “really did not understand homosexuality. The attitude scores did not however vary according to age (p-value=0.25) or sex (p-value=0.09) groups. Conclusion: Majority of the study participants had inadequate knowledge on the issues of homosexuality with a more or less neutral stance in their attitude.