Barriers to Equitable Cancer Care for Patients with Intellectual Disability: A Mixed-Methods Study of Clinician Perspectives in Ireland

This dataset is provided in Microsoft Excel format and contains responses from 100 cancer clinicians and nurses working in the West of Ireland. Data were collected between 2023 and 2024 and explore the problems, challenges, and barriers encountered in the delivery of cancer services to people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) and to people without intellectual disabilities.
Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire adapted from previously validated instruments to ensure relevance to cancer care and intellectual disability contexts. The questionnaire was modified from the following sources:
The General Practice Care of People with Intellectual Disability: Barriers and Solutions (Lennox, Diggens & Ugoni, 1997)
Palliative care provision for people with intellectual disabilities: a questionnaire survey of specialist palliative care professionals (Tuffrey-Wijne et al., 2008)
The adapted questionnaire examines barriers related to: Access to cancer services, Communication difficulties, Service delivery and coordination, Professional knowledge, training, and resource availability
In addition to structured (closed-ended) questions, the dataset includes two open-ended questions inviting participants to recommend interventions or strategies to reduce challenges and improve cancer care provision for people with intellectual disabilities.
Ethical approval for the study was obtained (reference CA3000). All data were anonymized prior to upload. Missing data were recorded as “not answered.”
This dataset may be reused for research, policy development, education, and service planning aimed at improving equity and quality of cancer care for people with intellectual disabilities.