Background
Depression and anxiety are amongst the most prevalent mental health disorders in the older population with intellectual disability (ID). There is a paucity of research that pertains to associative biopsychosocial factors for depression and anxiety in this population. The aim of this study is to determine the biopsychosocial factors associated with depression and anxiety in a population of older adults with ID in Ireland.
Methods
The study was part of ‘The Intellectual Disability Supplement to The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing’. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Glasgow Depression Scale for people with a Learning Disability. Anxiety symptoms were measured using the Glasgow Anxiety Scale for people with a Learning Disability. The cross‐sectional associations of depression and anxiety with biopsychosocial parameters were measured using a variety of self‐report and proxy‐completed questionnaires.
Results
For the study population, 9.97% met the criteria for depression, and 15.12% met the criteria for an anxiety disorder. Participants meeting criteria for depression were more likely to be taking regular mood stabiliser medications and to exhibit aggressive challenging behaviour. Participants meeting criteria for anxiety were more likely to have sleep difficulties and report loneliness. Participants meeting criteria for either/both depression and anxiety were more likely to report loneliness.
Conclusions
This study identified both treatable and modifiable, as well as unmodifiable, biopsychosocial factors associated with depression and/or anxiety in older adults with ID. A longitudinal study follow‐up will further develop our knowledge on the causality and direction of associated biopsychosocial factors with depression and anxiety in older adults with ID and better inform management strategies, prevention policies and funding of services.
Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for adults with chronic and acute illnesses informs health and economic policy for pandemic recovery. Our primary aim was to compare HRQoL of 3 illness groups of outpatient adults: those with diabetes, those who survived a hospitalization for COVID-19, and those who had a respiratory virus not COVID-19. The secondary aim was to compare the group domain summary scores to the referent general population.Methods: We identified the 3 groups from the electronic medical record and invited them to complete the SF-36 survey. Analysis of variance and post hoc testing was used for univariate analyses followed by linear regression.Results: One hundred thirty-two adults completed the survey. The groups differed least for physical functioning and most for emotional/mental health. The hospitalized group had the greatest limitation in role due to emotional issues. All groups had significantly lower social functioning scores than the general population. Linear regression showed lower HRQoL domain score in role limitations due to emotional issues adjusted for age, race, and gender for the hospitalized group.Conclusion: SF-36 scores show the decrease in HRQoL that outpatient adults have suffered, mostly in the emotional domain, regardless of illness group during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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