Study shows challenging reality of aging with an intellectual disability

Via  EurekAlert:

A new report launched today by the Intellectual Disability Supplement to TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing) conducted by academics from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has highlighted the serious, complex and unique health and social challenges facing Ireland's intellectual disability population.  The IDS-TILDA study is the first study of its kind in Europe and the only one in the world with the ability to compare the ageing of people with intellectual disability directly with the general ageing population.  For the first time in history, people in Ireland with an intellectual disability are growing old in considerable numbers. The IDS-TILDA Wave 2 Report, entitled Advancing Years, Different Challenges, looked at how the ageing process is affecting the physical wellbeing and mental health of the more than 30,000 people in Ireland with an intellectual disability.  Among the key findings from the report which was launched today are a marked increase in the prevalence of dementia for people with Down syndrome, particularly in comparison to the general ageing population; a range of stark findings relating to the levels of genuine connectedness to local communities among even those people with ID who had been moved to more community based residential settings as part of the Irish Government's health policy; and 50% lower rates of hypertension and three times lower rate of heart attack for people with ID compared to the general population despite having a higher risk profile than the general population.

Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences in Trinity and Principal Investigator of IDS-TILDA, Professor Mary McCarron said: "This is the first time in history we have ever had a population of people with an intellectual disability who have reached old age and this is something that we should celebrate. However, there are a number of very serious health concerns that we need to better understand in this population. Unless we can address some of these challenges older people with ID are likely to live a poor quality of life as they grow older and ageing in poor health is an empty prize."

Read more here.

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