Pope (1992) asserted that there was a significant need to examine secondary conditions among individuals with development disabilities. In the present study we focused on that need. The development of a secondary conditions surveillance instrument is described, as are the results of a pilot survey conducted with adults receiving state developmental disabilities program supports and with their direct-care service providers. Results of a pilot survey are presented to illustrate how survey data might be used to improve systems of services and supports to enhance the health and participation of adults with developmental disabilities in community life.

The performance of 53 healthy older adults (age 60-92) was examined on the Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT) and the Visual-Motor Integration Test (VMI). Subjects were divided into the following 3 groups: age 60-69, age 70-79, and age 80-92. Findings for the 60-69 and 80-92 age groups are considered tentative due to small sample size (n = 14 and 8 respectively). Preliminary data for the three age groups on the CVMT and the VMI are presented. On the CVMT, an unsatisfactorily large percentage of subjects were classified as impaired using the cutoffs provided in the CVMT manual, particularly on the delayed recognition measure and for all scores in the age 80-92 group. These preliminary findings suggest that the CVMT may not be an appropriate measure of nonverbal memory for older adults. The subjects' performance on the VMI suggests that this test is an adequate measure of graphomotor constructional ability in older adults and appears to be sensitive to aging effects. The VMI shows promise as an objective measure of graphomotor constructional ability in healthy older adults, and potentially, for individuals with neurological disease.

Little is known regarding the prevention of secondary conditions within this population. The authors stress the necessity to focus research efforts on greater understanding of the linkage between disability, rehabilitation and public health models.