Assessing Healthcare Access Among Physical and Hearing Disabled Persons in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

Disability constitutes a significant health problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Research assessing the health needs of people with disabilities in KSA is scarce. This study aimed to assess what physical and hearing disable persons need from healthcare services and to investigate difficulties in accessing these services in the Jazan area. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among hearing and physical disable persons between July, 2018, and May, 2019 in Jazan region, KSA using a modified Arabic-translated version of the validated Southampton Needs Assessment Questionnaire (SNAQ). Two hundred and eighty-nine hearing and physical disable persons completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 63%. Around half of the participants encountered difficulty in accessing appropriate healthcare services. More than half had difficulty obtaining mental healthcare, dental care, preventive periodic screening care, or medical care at home. Although 37.6% of the participants had previously received regular chronic disease care for diabetes, hypertension, or asthma, 52% reported difficulty obtaining medicine for such diseases, and 46.5% reported difficulty getting seasonal vaccinations such as the influenza vaccine. Finding specialized doctors or dentists using specialized means of communication was a struggle for over 50% of the participants. There is a need to optimize society for people with physical disabilities and improve access to healthcare facilities.