Abstract
Background: Data on the health of adolescents with intellectual disability are scarce. This study describes carer-reported symptoms, chronic illnesses, level of functioning, and behaviour among Australian adolescents with intellectual disability. We compare students attending mainstream and special schools. Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire data were obtained from a cohort of 592 adolescents (10–21 years) with intellectual disability attending school and living in South-East Queensland, Australia, in May 2007. We analysed data from a subset (176) who completed a health check before visiting their general practitioners. Results: Adolescents had significant health needs, and those in special education schools had worse health than those from mainstream schools. There was a discrepancy between the prevalence of significant psychopathology detected via the short form Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC-P24) and psychiatric conditions reported by carers. Conclusions: Given the significant health needs of this population, carefully designed and targeted programs, potentially including medical visits to these schools, are needed.
Highlights
IntroductionThere has been significant development in terms of health and welfare services for people with intellectual disability
Of the 423 participants allocated to the intervention arm and 304 to the control arm, 592 completed baseline questionnaires and 176 from the intervention group returned their completed health check booklets
We found that the prevalence of urinary and faecal incontinence was higher among participants from special education school (SES) than participants from special education unit (SEU), which was consistent with past studies [33]
Summary
There has been significant development in terms of health and welfare services for people with intellectual disability. Data on the health of adolescents with intellectual disability are scarce. This study describes carer-reported symptoms, chronic illnesses, level of functioning, and behaviour among Australian adolescents with intellectual disability. Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire data were obtained from a cohort of 592 adolescents (10–21 years) with intellectual disability attending school and living in South-East. Results: Adolescents had significant health needs, and those in special education schools had worse health than those from mainstream schools. There was a discrepancy between the prevalence of significant psychopathology detected via the short form Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC-P24) and psychiatric conditions reported by carers
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