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Background: Although high rates of COVID-19-related deaths have been reported for people with intellectual disabilities during the first 2 years of the pandemic, it is unknown to what extent the pandemic has impacted existing mortality disparities for people with intellectual disabilities. In this study, we linked a Dutch population-based cohort that contained information about intellectual disability statuses with the national mortality registry to analyse both cause-specific and all-cause mortality in people with and without intellectual disabilities, and to make comparisons with pre-pandemic mortality patterns., Methods: This population-based cohort study used a pre-existing cohort that included the entire Dutch adult population (everyone aged ≥18 years) on Jan 1, 2015, and identified people with presumed intellectual disabilities through data linkage. For all individuals within the cohort who died up to and including Dec 31, 2021, mortality data were obtained from the Dutch mortality register. Therefore, for each individual in the cohort, information was available about demographics (sex and date of birth), indicators of intellectual disability, if any, based on chronic care and (social) services use, and in case of death, the date and underlying cause of death. We compared the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021) with the pre-pandemic period (2015-19). The primary outcomes in this study were all-cause and cause-specific mortality. We calculated rates of death and generated hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox regression analysis., Findings: At the start of follow-up in 2015, 187 149 Dutch adults with indicators of intellectual disability were enrolled and 12·6 million adults from the general population were included. Mortality from COVID-19 was significantly higher in the population with intellectual disabilities than in the general population (HR 4·92, 95% CI 4·58-5·29), with a particularly large disparity at younger ages that declined with increasing age. The overall mortality disparity during the COVID-19 pandemic (HR 3·38, 95% CI 3·29-3·47) was wider than before the pandemic (3·23, 3·17-3·29). For five disease groups (neoplasms; mental, behavioural, and nervous system; circulatory system; external causes; and other natural causes) higher mortality rates were observed in the population with intellectual disabilities during the pandemic than before the pandemic, and the pre-pandemic to during the pandemic difference in mortality rates was greater in the population with intellectual disabilities than in the general population, although relative mortality risks for most other causes remained within similar ranges compared with pre-pandemic years., Interpretation: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with intellectual disabilities has been greater than reflected by COVID-19-related deaths alone. Not only was the mortality risk from COVID-19 higher in people with intellectual disabilities than in the general population, but overall mortality disparities were also further exacerbated during the first 2 years of the pandemic. For disability-inclusive future pandemic preparedness this excess mortality risk for people with intellectual disabilities should be addressed., Funding: Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport and Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Adults with mild intellectual disability (MID) experience more mental health disorders than the general population. However, mental healthcare may be insufficiently tailored to match their needs. Detailed information is lacking regarding care provided to people with MID in mental health services., Aims: To compare mental health disorders and care provided to patients with and without MID in Dutch mental health services, including patients with missing MID status in the service files., Method: In this population-based database study, we used a Statistics Netherlands mental health service database, containing health insurance claims of patients who utilised advanced mental health services in 2015-2017. Patients with MID were identified by linking this database with Statistic Netherlands' social services and long-term care databases., Results: We identified 7596 patients with MID, of whom 60.6% had no intellectual disability registration in the service files. Compared with patients without intellectual disability ( n = 329 864), they had different profiles of mental health disorders. They received fewer diagnostic (odds ratio 0.71, 95% CI 0.67-0.75) and treatment activities (odds ratio 0.56, 95% CI 0.53-0.59), and required more interprofessional consultations outside of the service (odds ratio 2.06, 95% CI 1.97-2.16), crisis interventions (odds ratio 2.00, 95% CI 1.90-2.10) and mental health-related hospital admissions (odds ratio 1.72, 95% CI 1.63-1.82)., Conclusions: Patients with MID in mental health services have different profiles of mental health disorders and care than patients without intellectual disability. In particular, fewer diagnostics and treatments are provided, especially in those with MID with no intellectual disability registration, putting patients with MID at risk of undertreatment and poorer mental health outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected persons in long-term care, who often experience health disparities. To delineate the COVID-19 disease burden among persons with intellectual disabilities, we prospectively collected data from 36 care facilities for 3 pandemic waves during March 2020-May 2021. We included outcomes for 2,586 clients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, among whom 161 had severe illness and 99 died. During the first 2 pandemic waves, infection among persons with intellectual disabilities reflected patterns observed in the general population, but case-fatality rates for persons with intellectual disabilities were 3.5 times higher and were elevated among those >40 years of age. Severe outcomes were associated with older age, having Down syndrome, and having >1 concurrent condition. Our study highlights the disproportionate COVID-19 disease burden among persons with intellectual disabilities and the need for disability-inclusive research and policymaking to inform disease surveillance and public health policies for this population.

Background: General practitioners (GPs) are increasingly confronted with people with both mild intellectual disability (MID) and mental health (MH) problems. Little is known about the type of MH problems for which people with MID visit their GP and the care provided., Objectives: To identify the type and prevalence of MH disorders and MH-related complaints in people with MID in primary care and care provided, compared to people without ID., Methods: By linking the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research's primary care databases, comprising electronic health records, with Statistic Netherlands' social services and chronic care databases, we identified 11,887 people with MID. In this four-year retrospective study, MH-related International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) codes and care characteristics were compared between people with MID and without ID., Results: Of the people with MID, 48.8% had MH problems recorded vs. 30.4% of the people without ID, with significant differences in substance abuse, suicide attempts, and psychosis. Of the MID group, 80.3% were not registered by their GP with the ICPC code mental retardation. GPs provided more care to people with MID and MH problems than people without ID but with MH-problems regarding consultations (median 6.4 vs. 4.0 per year) and variety of prescribed medications (median 2.7 vs. 2.0 per year)., Conclusion: In primary care, the prevalence of MH problems and care provided is high in people with MID. To improve primary mental healthcare for this group, it is essential to increase GPs' awareness and knowledge on the combination of MID and MH.

Background: People with intellectual disabilities (ID) depend on their environment to live healthily. Asset-based health promotion enhances a settings' health-promoting capacity starting with identifying protective or promotive factors that sustain health., Method: This inclusive mixed-methods study used group sessions to generate and rank ideas on assets supporting healthy nutrition and physical activity in Dutch intellectual disability care settings. Participants included people with moderate intellectual disabilities and family and care professionals of people with severe/profound intellectual disabilities., Results: Fifty-one participants identified 185 assets in group sessions. They include the following: (i) the social network and ways "people" can support, (ii) assets in/around "places," and person-environment fit, and (iii) "preconditions": health care, prevention, budget, and policy., Conclusion: This inclusive research provides a user perspective on assets in the living environment supporting healthy living. This gives insight in contextual factors needed for development and sustainable embedment of health promotion in the systems of intellectual disability support settings., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Data on the development of Covid-19 among people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are scarce and it is uncertain to what extent general population data applies to people with ID. To give an indication of possible implications, this study investigated excess mortality patterns during a previous influenza epidemic., Methods: Using Dutch population and mortality registers, a historical cohort study was designed to compare mortality during the 2017-2018 influenza epidemic with mortality in the same period in the three previous years. People with ID were identified by entitlements to residential ID-care services as retrieved from a national database., Results: Data covered the entire adult Dutch population (12.6 million; GenPop), of which 91 064 individuals were identified with an ID. During the influenza epidemic, mortality among people with ID increased almost three times as much than in the GenPop (15.2% vs. 5.4%), and more among male individuals with ID (+19.5%) than among female individuals with ID (+10.6%), as compared with baseline. In both cohorts, comparable increases in mortality within older age groups and due to respiratory causes were seen. Particularly in the ID-cohort, excess deaths also occurred in younger age groups, due to endocrine diseases and ID-specific causes., Conclusions: During the 2017-2018 influenza epidemic, excess mortality among people with ID was three times higher than in the general Dutch population, appeared more often at young age and with a broader range of underlying causes. These findings suggest that a pandemic may disproportionally affect people with ID while population data may not immediately raise warnings. Early detection of diverging patterns and faster implementation of tailored strategies therefore require collection of good quality data., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research published by MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)