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. 2017 Mar 29;7(3):e014846.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014846.

Hospital admissions for respiratory system diseases in adults with intellectual disabilities in Southeast London: a register-based cohort study

Chin-Kuo Chang  1   2 , Chih-Yin Chen  3 , Mathew Broadbent  2 , Robert Stewart  1   2 , Jean O'Hara  4
Affiliations

Hospital admissions for respiratory system diseases in adults with intellectual disabilities in Southeast London: a register-based cohort study

Chin-Kuo Chang et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Background: Intellectual disability (ID) carries a high impact on need for care, health status and premature mortality. Respiratory system diseases contribute a major part of mortality among people with ID, but remain underinvestigated as consequent morbidities.

Methods: Anonymised electronic mental health records from the South London and Maudsley Trust (SLaM) were linked to national acute medical care data. Using retrospective cohort and matched case-control study designs, adults with ID receiving SLaM care between 1 January 2008 and 31 March 2013 were identified and compared with local catchment residents for respiratory system disease admissions. Standardised admission ratios (SARs) were first calculated, followed by a comparison of duration of hospitalisation with respiratory system disease between people with ID and age-matched and gender-matched random counterparts modelled using linear regression. Finally, the risk of readmission for respiratory system disease was analysed using the Cox models.

Results: For the 3138 adults with ID identified in SLaM, the SAR for respiratory system disease admissions was 4.02 (95% CI 3.79 to 4.26). Compared with adults without ID, duration of hospitalisation was significantly longer by 2.34 days (95% CI 0.03 to 4.64) and respiratory system disease readmission was significantly elevated (HR=1.35; 95% CI 1.17 to 1.56) after confounding adjustment.

Conclusions: Respiratory system disease admissions in adults with ID are more frequent, of longer duration and have a higher likelihood of recurring. Development and evaluation of potential interventions to the preventable causes of respiratory diseases should be prioritised.

Keywords: data linkage; health service utilisation; hospitalisation; mental healthcare; retrospective cohort.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: RS, C-KC and MB have received research funding from Pfizer, Lundbeck, J&J and Roche.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Process for identification of study sample and comparison groups in statistical analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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