Injury risk in young people with intellectual disability.
Epilepsy or mental-health issues triple injury risk in youth with ID—screen and safeguard.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran a one-time survey of youth with intellectual disability. They asked parents and carers about injuries, seizures, mood, and behavior.
The goal was to see which traits make injuries more likely in this group.
What they found
Kids with ID got hurt three times more often if they also had epilepsy or mental-health problems. A friendly, outgoing mood also raised the odds.
Seizures and psychopathology were the strongest red flags.
How this fits with other research
Hatton et al. (2004) pooled many studies and found the same pattern: people with ID have extra epilepsy and fractures.
Simpson et al. (2001) and McConkey et al. (2010) later showed the same link in adults—seizures keep predicting injuries.
Arshad et al. (2011) seems to disagree: in adults sent to mental-health clinics, epilepsy was tied to fewer psychiatric labels. The clash fades when you see the target studied youth in the community, while Saadia looked at adults already in care.
Why it matters
Add two quick boxes to your intake form: history of seizures and current mental-health care. If either is checked, plan for safety—pad sharp corners, teach safe walking, and train staff on seizure first aid. These steps take five minutes and can prevent months of recovery.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Epidemiological studies have established injury as a major public health problem for young people in the general population, but minimal population-based injury information exists on those with intellectual disability (ID). The present study investigated risk factors for injury to subjects in the Australian Child and Adolescent Development (ACAD) programme, which is examining emotional and behavioural problems in young people with ID. Extensive biopsychosocial data for the ACAD programme were collected at two time intervals (i.e. 1990-1991 and 1995-1996). Carer report of medically attended injury over one year was collected for the first time period (1995-1996) on a sample of 465 ACAD subjects (aged 5-29 years) representative of young people with ID (IQ < 70) to determine risk factors for injury using the ACAD biopsychosocial data. Psychopathology [odds ratio (OR)=3.4] epilepsy (OR = 2.4) and an overly sociable temperament (OR=2.2) are associated with injury in young people with ID. Social and family factors had minimal influence on injury risk in this population. Those who are highly disruptive, self-absorbed, anxious, have problems relating socially, have communication disturbance or have attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms are particularly at increased risk for injury. The present study demonstrates a largely under-recognized public health problem of a high unintentional injury risk for young people with ID, and identifies substantial and important risk factors for injury. Injury prevention programmes, with a particular focus on those with highly disturbed behaviours or epilepsy, are warranted in this population.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2002 · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2788.2002.00346.x