“The Impact of COVID-19 on People with Intellectual Disabilities: Higher Mortality Rates and Health Disparities”

The corona pandemic has left deep marks in the group of people with intellectual disabilities. Not only was there a four times higher mortality from Covid in this target group, existing health differences between people with and without an intellectual disability have also increased. This is the conclusion of researchers at Radboudumc. Yet a report by EenVandaag also asks to take other values ​​into account: ‘Life is not without risks’.

It is already known that the life expectancy of people with intellectual disabilities is on average 15 years lower than that of the general population. Maarten Cuypers and colleagues from the Department of Primary Care and the Academic Workshop Stronger on its own feet examined the effect of the corona pandemic on mortality in this vulnerable group.

According to the researchers At least 785 people with intellectual disabilities died of Covid in the first two corona years (2020 and 2021). That is more than 600 more than would be expected on the basis of mortality in the general population. It was also difficult to protect this group from the virus; prevention and compliance with the basic rules is more difficult and in any case you have many close contacts within institutions and residential groups, which in turn increases the risk of infection.

Mortality in this target group from cancer, disorders of the brain and nervous system and from external causes also increased more than in the rest of the population. It is an indication that the existing health differences between people with and without intellectual disabilities have increased, the researchers say.

Loneliness
Cuypers talks about the research in a report from EenVandaag. The researchers’ conclusion is that more attention should be paid to the vulnerability of people with an intellectual disability. At the same time, the report also pays attention to the effect of the isolation on people with an intellectual disability and Michel van Mullem, resident of ‘s Heeren Loo, says that it was a ‘rotten period’ due to the lack of contact and visitors.

Ageeth Ouwehand of the Board of Directors of ‘s Heeren Loo states in the report that if measures have to be taken again in the future in the event of a pandemic, tailor-made solutions must be provided. “I have seen a lot of sadness, but we have also learned. Suppose another pandemic breaks out, then I expect that people will no longer think linearly from control.” |

The study of the Academic workplace Stronger on its own feet has been published in The Lancet Public Health. Also read more about it research on the RadboudUMC website. And check out the report on the EenVandaag website.