Prevalence of mental health conditions and relationship with general health in a whole-country population of people with intellectual disabilities compared with the general population

Abstract

Background There are no previous whole-country studies on mental health and relationships with general health in intellectual disability populations; study results vary. Aims To determine the prevalence of mental health conditions and relationships with general health in a total population with and without intellectual disabilities. Method Ninety-four per cent completed Scotland's Census 2011. Data on intellectual disabilities, mental health and general health were extracted, and the association between them was investigated. Results A total of 26 349/5 295 403 (0.5%) had intellectual disabilities. In total, 12.8% children, 23.4% adults and 27.2% older adults had mental health conditions compared with 0.3, 5.3 and 4.5% of the general population. Intellectual disabilities predicted mental health conditions; odds ratio (OR)=7.1 (95% CI 6.8–7.3). General health was substantially poorer and associated with mental health conditions; fair health OR=1.8 (95% CI 1.7–1.9), bad/very bad health OR=4.2 (95% CI 3.9–4.6). Conclusions These large-scale, whole-country study findings are important, given the previously stated lack of confidence in comparative prevalence results, and the need to plan services accordingly.