How do multimorbidity and lifestyle factors impact the perceived health of adults with intellectual disabilities?
Check female sex, weak motor skills, and illness count to spot adults with ID who feel least healthy.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team mailed a health survey to 214 adults with intellectual disability. They asked each person how healthy they felt. They also counted physical conditions, checked motor skills, and recorded age and sex.
A computer model then picked out which factors best explained why some people felt less healthy.
What they found
Three red flags stood out. Women, people with weak motor skills, and those with many physical illnesses all said they felt less healthy.
ID level by itself did not make the list once these three factors were counted.
How this fits with other research
Jin et al. (2020) found almost the same thing one year earlier. In their group, obesity and no exercise—not ID severity—hurt health ratings. The two studies line up like puzzle pieces: both show daily body and lifestyle factors matter more than the label of “mild” or “moderate” ID.
Thomas et al. (2021) looked at the same Irish survey but focused on adults over 60. They learned that piles of physical illness often travel with mental-health problems. I et al. now show the same link in younger adults, so the pattern spans the whole adult life.
Hastings et al. (2002) mapped illness in over 1,000 older adults with ID. Their work is the grandparent study: it first showed rising sickness with age. The new paper keeps that story going by proving that more illness also means worse self-rated health.
Why it matters
You now have a quick three-item checklist for any adult client: female, low motor function, multiple diagnoses. Flag these clients first for health-promotion slots, exercise plans, or medical referrals. No extra tests—just use what you already know from records and quick movement screens.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Adults with intellectual disability (ID) have poorer physical and perceived health than the general population. Knowledge of perceived health predictors is both limited and important for guiding the development of preventive actions. The aims of this study were to investigate (1) the associations between perceived health and demographics, degree of ID, physical health conditions, and weight and physical activity level and (2) lifestyle factors and multimorbidity as predictors for perceived health adjusted for age, gender, and level of ID. METHOD: The North Health in Intellectual Disability study is a community based cross-sectional survey. The POMONA-15 health indicators were used. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with poor versus good health as the dependent variable were applied. RESULTS: The sample included 214 adults with a mean age 36.1 (SD 13.8) years; 56% were men, and 27% reported perceiving their health as poor. In univariate analyses, there were significant associations between poor health ratings and female gender, lower motor function, number of physical health conditions and several indicators of levels of physical activity. In the final adjusted model, female gender [odds ratio (OR) 2.4, P < 0.05], level of ID (OR 0.65, P < 0.05), numbers of physical health conditions (OR 1.6, P < 0.001) and lower motor function (OR 1.5 P < 0.05) were significant explanatory variables for poor perceived health, with a tendency to independently impact failure to achieve 30 min of physical activity daily (OR 2.0, P = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Adults with ID with female gender, reduced motor function and more physical health conditions are at increased risk of lower perceived health and should be given attention in health promoting interventions. A lack of physical activity tends to negatively influence perceived health.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2021 · doi:10.1111/jir.12845