Nursing perspectives on cancer screening in adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.
Adults with IDD miss cancer screening because of sedation fears and missing orders, but caregiver coaching can remove the sedation barrier.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Turk et al. (2010) asked nurses what stops adults with IDD from getting cancer screening.
The nurses listed sedation needs, failed attempts, and missing doctor orders as the big three blocks.
What they found
Screening happens less often for adults with IDD.
Nurses say the main culprits are fear of sedation, past failed visits, and no signed order.
How this fits with other research
Nguyen et al. (2025) shows the sedation barrier can be beaten. Remote caregiver coaching let 29 of 30 adults skip sedation during dental exams.
Matson et al. (2008) heard the same screening gaps from patients themselves, so the problem is stable across time and viewpoint.
Hithersay et al. (2014) looked for carer-led health programs and found none that work for adults with ID. This gap keeps the nurses’ concerns alive.
Why it matters
You can copy the Nguyen dental fix for cancer screening. Coach caregivers to rehearse the steps at home, schedule a short telehealth warm-up, and share the plan with the radiology team. One dry-run can turn a failed attempt into a completed scan.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Health care disparities have been documented in cancer screenings of adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. Developmental disabilities nurses were surveyed to better understand and improve this deficiency. Two thirds of respondents believed that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities received fewer cancer screenings compared with the general population. The most frequently cited barriers to cancer screenings were as follows: patient need for sedation, unsuccessful attempts at screening, and failure of the primary care clinician to order cancer screening tests. Nurses observed that health care providers frequently did not tailor cancer screening recommendations to individuals' family histories, life expectancies, or their disability-specific cancer risks. The authors suggest interventions to improve cancer screening centered around education and training, accessibility, financing-insurance, modification of procedures, and patient tracking.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-48.4.271