Prevalence and Characteristics of Falls in Adults with Intellectual Disability Living in a Residential Facility: A Longitudinal Study [PreFallID].
Adults with ID fall often and early—screen everyone, not just seniors.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Salb et al. (2015) watched 147 adults with intellectual disability in one residential home for a full year. Staff wrote down every fall as it happened.
The team wanted to know how often falls occur and whether younger adults fall less than older adults.
What they found
They logged 140 falls. Fall rates were almost the same: 0.85 falls per person-year for younger adults and 1.06 for older adults.
In plain words, age did not protect anyone. Adults in their thirties fell nearly as much as those in their sixties.
How this fits with other research
Oppewal et al. (2018) helps explain why. They showed adults with ID walk like adults 20 years older in the general population—less stable and more variable.
Andrews et al. (2024) adds another piece. Two out of five adults with ID who attend memory clinics take high-burden drugs that raise fall risk.
Lifshitz et al. (2008) looked at ADL decline and also found that diagnosis matters more than age. Cerebral palsy and Down syndrome drove decline, not birthday candles.
Why it matters
Stop waiting for clients to turn 65 before you screen for falls. Start balance training, medication reviews, and gait checks as soon as adults enter residential care. A quick drug-burden calculation and a hallway walking test can prevent the next fall today.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The objective of our study was to describe the prevalence and characteristics of falls in adults with intellectual disability living in a residential care setting and to define differences between fallers and non-fallers in younger and older resident groups. In contrast to the general population, falls are a problem for both aged and younger adults with intellectual disability living in a residential care setting. Falls of 147 residents, aged between 21-89 years with different grades of ID, were recorded prospectively over a 12 months period using a digital fall report form. For all participants, a total of 140 falls were reported and high fall rates per person-year were found in the younger (0.85) as well as in the older aged residents (1.06).
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-53.3.228