A follow-up study of mortality, health conditions and associated disabilities of people with intellectual disabilities in a Swedish county.
Half of adults with ID in this Swedish county had hidden psychiatric or neurological illness and little access to specialists.
01Research in Context
What this study did
K-Reid et al. (2005) tracked every adult with intellectual disability living in one Swedish county. They checked medical records, ran health exams, and counted who saw specialists.
The team wanted to see how many people had hidden illnesses and whether they could reach psychiatric or neurological care.
What they found
Half of the adults had undiagnosed mental-health conditions. Epilepsy, chronic pain, and behavior disorders were common and rarely treated.
Most people saw only their general doctor. Few ever met a psychiatrist or neurologist.
How this fits with other research
Dawson et al. (2000) already showed that European services for adults with ID were fragmented. K-Reid et al. (2005) give the hard numbers behind that picture.
Feldman et al. (1999) found that closing institutions cut off psychiatric care in Norway. The Swedish data match that trend: specialist help is still scarce after deinstitutionalization.
One year later, Cannella et al. (2006) proved an integrated mental-health service can work. Their UK team linked ID and mental-health staff and saw real clinical gains, showing the gap can be closed.
Why it matters
If you serve adults with ID, screen for mood, anxiety, epilepsy, and pain at every visit. Write referral templates that name local psychiatrists and neurologists. Push your agency to add mental-health clinicians to the ID team so clients do not bounce between silos.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: In the planning of services and health care for individuals with intellectual disability (ID), information is needed on the special requirements for habilitation and medical service and associated disabilities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An unselected consecutive series of 82 adult persons with ID was studied. The medical examination consisted of the individual's health condition, associated impairments and disabilities. Medical and habilitation services and support were studied. RESULTS: The results indicated that 71% of the persons in the series had severe and 29% mild ID. Forty-seven per cent of the persons with severe ID and 35% of those with mild ID had one or more additional central nervous system (CNS) disabilities. Of the persons with ID, 99% had access to a family doctor and 84% attended regular health visits. Notably, half of persons were referred to a specialist examination as a consequence of their present medical examination. Half of the persons with mental health problems were previously undiagnosed and only a few of these had access to a psychiatrist. CONCLUSION: Our study clearly demonstrates the magnitude and importance of neurological and psychiatric impairments in ID. The findings suggest a strong need for multidisciplinary health service.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2005 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2005.00728.x