Comparison of population pyramid and demographic characteristics between people with an intellectual disability and the general population.
Taiwan’s ID population is strikingly young and rarely reaches 65, so BCBAs should front-load services and health screening in the early years.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yen et al. (2013) pulled Taiwan’s national disability registry. They lined up every person with an intellectual disability next to the general public. The team made a population pyramid to see who is young, old, married, educated, or still alive.
No tests, no treatment—just cold, hard census numbers.
What they found
The ID group is a young crowd. Only three in every hundred live past 65. They also marry less, attend school less, and show a different ethnic mix than the rest of Taiwan.
How this fits with other research
Cockram (2005) saw the same young skew but tracked minds, not birthdays. That review found older adults with ID lose verbal skills faster and keep hands-on skills longer than typical seniors. The pyramid now tells us why so few reach old age—there simply aren’t many there to test.
Ferguson et al. (2020) stretched the life-span picture to Brazil. Down-syndrome deaths there rise in the north and among people with no schooling, echoing Taiwan’s education gap. Together the papers draw one map: where you live and what you learn shape how long you live with ID.
Geurts et al. (2008) looked at the rare few who do reach 65-plus with ID. Their user-led health clusters show even within that tiny group, some stay fit while others carry heavy disease loads. The pyramid warns us the whole older tier is small; M et al. show it is also split by health.
Why it matters
You will not see many gray-haired clients with ID. Plan services for children and working-age adults now, not senior centers for later. Screen early for health risks that cut lives short, and push for schooling—education keeps showing up as a survival tool across countries.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purposes of this study were to measure disparities of age structure between people with an intellectual disability and general population, and to explore the difference of demographic characteristics between these two populations by using data from a population based register in Taiwan. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 statistical software. Results found that the gender and mean age were significantly different between people with an intellectual disability and general population (mean age: 28.86 years vs. 35.26 years; p<0.001). The shape of the pyramid in general population tended to be fatty in the middle age, and intellectual disability population was more populous in the younger age. Furthermore, there were very few people with an intellectual disability can live more than 65 years old (3%) while there were nearly 10% of the general population were the elderly. The results also showed that two groups were different in marital status, educational levels, family status of veteran and aborigine (p<0.001). As the premature aging and short life span of people with an intellectual disability, this study suggested that the government authority should initiate necessary assistance for this group of people in the future.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.11.019