Prevalence of Depression and Dementia among Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Manitoba, Canada

Shahin Shooshtari,Saba Naghipur,Patricia Joan Martens,Natalia Dik,Charles A Burchill

doi:10.1155/2011/319574

Shahin Shooshtari, Saba Naghipur + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/319574

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Abstract

Study Objective. To estimate and compare the prevalence of dementia and depression among adults with and without developmental disabilities (DDs). Methods. We linked data from several provincial administrative databases to identify persons with DDs. We matched cases with DD with persons without DD as to sex, age, and place of residence. We estimated the prevalence of dementia and depression and compared the two groups using the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) technique. Results. The estimated prevalence of depression and dementia among younger adults (20–54) and older adults (50+) with DD was significantly higher than the estimated rates for the matched non-DD group (Depression: younger adults: RR = 2.96 (95% CI 2.59–3.39); older adults: RR = 2.65 (95% CI 1.84–3.81)), (Dementia: younger adults: RR = 4.01 (95% CI 2.72–5.92); older adults: RR = 4.80 (95% CI 2.48–9.31)). Conclusion. Significant disparities exist in mental health between persons with and without DDs.

Highlights

Persons with developmental disabilities (DDs) are those who “have significantly greater difficulty than most people with intellectual and adaptive functioning and have had such difficulties from a very early age
The present study extended previous research on the prevalence of mental illnesses among persons with DD by designing a population-based comparative study using the linked data from several administrative databases, covering the entire population of a Canadian province
This study was the first attempt in Manitoba to use a record linkage technique to estimate the prevalence of specific mental illnesses, including depression and dementia, at the population level for persons with DDs

Summary

Introduction

Persons with developmental disabilities (DDs) are those who “have significantly greater difficulty than most people with intellectual and adaptive functioning and have had such difficulties from a very early age. Most Canadian research has focused on hospitalizations for mental health or psychiatric disorders [16, 17, 19,20,21, 23,24,25] and has centered on the Canadian province of Ontario [19,20,21, 23,24,25]. Some of these studies focused on a small number of persons from a selected unit or hospital [22]

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