Valid community-based data on the prevalence of chronic diseases in adolescents (12–18 years) with intellectual disability (ID-adolescents) are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rates and the nature of chronic diseases in a population of ID-adolescents and to compare them with the rates among adolescents in the general population. Therefore, we obtained data on 1083 ID-adolescents attending secondary schools, day care centers or living in residential centers fully covering one region of the Netherlands. Parents of the adolescents completed a questionnaire about the occurrence of chronic diseases in their child during the previous 12 months and about background characteristics. The questionnaire was derived from the Dutch National Permanent Survey on Living Conditions questionnaire periodically administered in a representative population sample (n ≈ 10,000). Prevalence rates of chronic diseases in ID-adolescents were compared with those in adolescents in the Dutch general population. Among ID-adolescents, high prevalence rates of a wide range of chronic diseases were found. The five most prevalent were: ADHD (21.1%), PDD-NOS (14.0%), dyslexia (13.9%), migraine or chronic headache (12.7%), and autistic disorder (10.9%). These prevalence rates were all higher (p < 0.05) than among adolescents in the general population. Of all ID-adolescents, 62.9% was reported to have at least one chronic disease. The burden of chronic diseases among ID-adolescents is very high, showing a high need for adequate care. These high prevalence rates should alert policymakers and clinicians regarding the widespread of chronic diseases among ID-adolescents.
Valid community-based data on the prevalence rates of the full range of chronic diseases in adolescents (12–18 years) with intellectual disability (ID-adolescents) are scarce (Sawyer et al., 2007 and Van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk and Walsh, 2008). A number of studies have reported on the prevalence of specific chronic diseases in young people with ID (Airaksinen et al., 2000, Bradley and Bolton, 2006, Bradley and Isaacs, 2006, Bryson et al., 2008, Cans et al., 1999, Christianson et al., 2002, de Bildt et al., 2005, Dekker and Koot, 2003, Emerson and Hatton, 2007, Emerson, 2003, Fernell, 1998, Gothelf et al., 2008, Hou et al., 1998, Jelliffe-Pawlowski et al., 2003, Koskentausta et al., 2002, Lewis et al., 2000, Magnusson and Saemundsen, 2001, Merrick and Morag, 2000, Molteno et al., 2001, Morgan et al., 2003, Nielsen et al., 2007a, Nielsen et al., 2007b, Nordin and Gillberg, 1996, Petterson et al., 2007, Steffenburg et al., 1996, Stromme and Diseth, 2000, Stromme and Hagberg, 2000, Van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk et al., 1997, Voigt et al., 2006, Yeargin-Allsopp et al., 1997 and Zhang and Ji, 2005). However, only few studies have reported such prevalence rates of a wide range of chronic diseases associated with ID (Fernell, 1998, Stromme and Diseth, 2000, Stromme and Hagberg, 2000 and Van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk et al., 1997). Moreover, only some studies compared their results with the prevalence rates of chronic diseases in the general population (Emerson and Hatton, 2007, Emerson, 2003, Magnusson and Saemundsen, 2001, Petterson et al., 2007 and Voigt et al., 2006), and none of these studies reported prevalence rates of chronic diseases among ID-adolescents.
