[Health of the mentally handicapped elderly]

Abstract

As a result of increased life expectancy of persons with intellectual disabilities, the number of ageing persons with intellectual disability has increased rapidly. As a result of changed attitudes in health care, the majority of people aged 50 years or more now live in the community and make use of the standard general and specialist healthcare services. Except in people with Down syndrome, primary ageing occurs at a normal age in this population. Nevertheless, an increased age-related vulnerability can be observed, occurring earlier than in the general population. Although scientific research is still scarce, the following factors threatening health can be distinguished: functional impairments, multimorbidity, unhealthy lifestyle, incomplete detection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, insufficient participation in population screening, missed diagnoses as a result of lack of subjective symptoms. Reliable information on health status of ageing people with an intellectual disability will become available in the next few years based on current Dutch research. Following several changes in the rules of the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) it is possible for general practitioners to refer those patients with an intellectual disability living in the community to a doctor specialised in intellectual disability medicine.