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. 2017 Sep 29;3(5):243-248.
doi: 10.1192/bjpo.bp.117.005462. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Prevalence of mental health conditions and relationship with general health in a whole-country population of people with intellectual disabilities compared with the general population

Laura A Hughes-McCormack  1 , Ewelina Rydzewska  2 , Angela Henderson  3 , Cecilia MacIntyre  4 , Julie Rintoul  5 , Sally-Ann Cooper  6
Affiliations

Prevalence of mental health conditions and relationship with general health in a whole-country population of people with intellectual disabilities compared with the general population

Laura A Hughes-McCormack et al. BJPsych Open. .

Abstract

Background: There are no previous whole-country studies on mental health and relationships with general health in intellectual disability populations; study results vary.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of mental health conditions and relationships with general health in a total population with and without intellectual disabilities.

Method: Ninety-four per cent completed Scotland's Census 2011. Data on intellectual disabilities, mental health and general health were extracted, and the association between them was investigated.

Results: A total of 26 349/5 295 403 (0.5%) had intellectual disabilities. In total, 12.8% children, 23.4% adults and 27.2% older adults had mental health conditions compared with 0.3, 5.3 and 4.5% of the general population. Intellectual disabilities predicted mental health conditions; odds ratio (OR)=7.1 (95% CI 6.8-7.3). General health was substantially poorer and associated with mental health conditions; fair health OR=1.8 (95% CI 1.7-1.9), bad/very bad health OR=4.2 (95% CI 3.9-4.6).

Conclusions: These large-scale, whole-country study findings are important, given the previously stated lack of confidence in comparative prevalence results, and the need to plan services accordingly.

Declaration of interest: None.

Copyright and usage: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Prevalence of a mental health condition by gender and age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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