Evaluation of midwives' knowledge, attitudes, and opinions about LGBTI Individuals

LGBTI is an umbrella concept created by abbreviating the initials of the concepts lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex. This study aims to investigate midwives' knowledge, attitudes and opinions towards LGBTI individuals. The sample of the study consisted of 264 midwives working in Turkey between January and March 2023. An information form consisting of questions about socio-demographic characteristics and LGBTI and the "Homosexuality Attitude Scale" was used to collect data.The average age of the midwives in the study was 28 - 7.25 years, 82.6% of the midwives said they heard about LGBTI from the internet and social media, 37.1% said LGBTI individuals were very sensitive and vulnerable, 36.7% said being LGBTI was a psychological problem, 59.8% said they may have difficulty in educating LGBTI individuals, and 28.4% said there were LGBTI individuals in their circle of friends. The average score of the midwives on the Homosexual Attitude Scale was 165.56-2.14. In this study, it was decided that the attitudes of the midwives participating in the study towards homosexuals were negative and that they did not have enough information about LGBTI.