Clinical profile and main comorbidities of Spanish adults with Down syndrome

Abstract

Background: The life expectancy of adults with Down syndrome (DS) has significantly increased in the last decades. We aim to describe the main demographic and clinical characteristics of a cohort of adults with DS, and analyse their differences according to age and gender groups.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of 144 adults with DS from the outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Madrid, Spain, recruited between February 2012 and March 2013. Demographic data (age, gender, living situation, caregivers, and working situation), clinical conditions, prior medications, and laboratory data were measured and compared between groups.

Results: Adults with DS were 35±12 years old (range 17-65), and 51% were males. Most subjects lived with their families (112, 78%), and parents were the main caregivers in 73% of cases. However, older adults with DS lived more frequently in residential facilities. Each subject presented an average of 5±2 clinical problems. Eye (117 adults, 81%), skin (86, 60%), thyroid (81, 56%), gastrointestinal (73, 51%), and psychopathological disorders (58, 40%) were amongst the most frequent clinical conditions of adults with DS. Cataracts (14, 61%), keratoconus (4, 17%), dementia (11, 48%), and seizures (6, 26%) were more frequent amongst individuals with DS over 50 years (p<0.001 for the comparisons). No relevant differences were found between genders. The medications most frequently prescribed were levothyroxine (70 subjects, 48.6%), vitamin D (50, 34.7%), antidepressants (32, 22%), and antipsychotics (31, 21.5%).

Conclusions: Adults with DS present a wide spectrum of potentially treatable medical conditions, making specially-trained multidisciplinary teams a dire need for this population.

Keywords: Comorbidity; Dementia; Down syndrome; Hypothyroidism; Obesity.