Aging, cerebral palsy, and older persons with mental retardation

Physical mobility limitations in adults with intellectual disabilities: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Mobility limitations increase with age in the general population. Despite a growing population of older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), mobility is rarely studied in the ID literature. The specific aim of this study was to identify and summarise primary literature investigating mobility limitations in adults with ID.

METHODS

This study was a systematic review of the epidemiological literature (incidence and prevalence) of mobility limitations among adults with ID. Four electronic databases were searched from January 1980 to May 2007 for publications according to predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Additional sources were consulted. Two reviewers extracted data from each of the included articles.

RESULTS

Thirty-two publications representing 31 studies were ultimately included. In general, studies did not focus on mobility but were conducted for other purposes. All studies were conducted in industrialised countries. Only one study used a longitudinal design; the remainders were cross-sectional. Few investigators reported on the representativeness of the sample or the validity of the measurement tool. Study samples differed substantially and investigators used numerous definitions of mobility limiting comparability between studies.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a need for increased research on mobility limitations among adults with ID, particularly longitudinal research. Researchers investigating mobility limitations should use validated measurement tools and offer detailed descriptions of the study sample and how it compares with an identifiable population.

Aging mothers and aging daughters: life-long caring and intellectual disability

While aging and caring are well-discussed in academic literature, the association among aging, caring and intellectual disability is less well documented. This paper draws on a recently completed Australian study which focuses on such mother/daughter relationships and whose narratives form the framework for an argument for a re-imagining of the concept of care for aged people with intellectual disability. Specifically, using a genealogical approach, the paper describes how powerful discourses at the time of the daughter's birth (1940s and 1950s)--associated with eugenics, institutional care and motherhood--are framing the way in which aging mothers are now contemplating the future care for their adult (and also aging) daughters.

Care dependence and services planning

For policy purposes as well as for the provision of individual care, it is relevant to know which individual characteristics have an impact upon the level of care dependence. For policy purposes, it is preferable to predict the level of care dependence as efficiently as possible. This study of residents of institutions and group homes for people with mental handicap showed that profoundly mentally handicapped residents are almost all totally dependent upon care: additional information about the individual characteristics of this group is superfluous. The results of logistic regression analyses for residents with severe or mild mental handicap showed that age, gender and aetiological diagnosis (Down's syndrome or other) do not have significant predictive power. For the level of care dependence, adding the score on Activities of Daily Life (ADL) to the various models improved the predictive power. It depends on the level of mental handicap and on the level of care dependence which one wants to predict which other individual characteristics have to be included in order to improve predictive power.

Mental and physical health and ageing in mental handicap: a review

With some exceptions, the mental and physical health problems of elderly mentally handicapped people are similar to those of the elderly population as a whole. Psychiatric disorder is more common due to a higher frequency of behaviour disorders. Increased longevity has been accompanied by a progressive increase in deaths from age-related conditions and in individuals with Down's syndrome exposed a predisposition to premature senility and dementia. Service issues include general health care, preventive measures, provision for those with psychiatric and age-related problems, and staff training.