An evaluation of the effectiveness of annual health checks and quality of health care for adults with intellectual disability: an observational study using a primary care database

Abstract

Background People with intellectual disability (ID) have poorer health than the general population; however, there is a lack of comprehensive national data describing their health-care needs and utilisation. Annual health checks for adults with ID have been incentivised through primary care since 2009, but only half of those eligible for such a health check receive one. It is unclear what impact health checks have had on important health outcomes, such as emergency hospitalisation. Objectives To evaluate whether or not annual health checks for adults with ID have reduced emergency hospitalisation, and to describe health, health care and mortality for adults with ID. Design A retrospective matched cohort study using primary care data linked to national hospital admissions and mortality data sets. Setting A total of 451 English general practices contributing data to Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Participants A total of 21,859 adults with ID compared with 152,846 age-, gender- and practice-matched controls without ID registered during 2009–13. Interventions None. Main outcome measures Emergency hospital admissions. Other outcomes – preventable admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, and mortality. Data sources CPRD, Hospital Episodes Statistics and Office for National Statistics. Results Compared with the general population, adults with ID had higher levels of recorded comorbidity and were more likely to consult in primary care. However, they were less likely to have long doctor consultations, and had lower continuity of care. They had higher mortality rates [hazard ratio (HR) 3.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.3 to 3.9], with 37.0% of deaths classified as being amenable to health-care intervention (HR 5.9, 95% CI 5.1 to 6.8). They were more likely to have emergency hospital admissions [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 2.82, 95% CI 2.66 to 2.98], with 33.7% deemed preventable compared with 17.3% in controls (IRR 5.62, 95% CI 5.14 to 6.13). Health checks for adults with ID had no effect on overall emergency admissions compared with controls (IRR 0.96, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.07), although there was a relative reduction in emergency admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (IRR 0.82, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.99). Practices with high health check participation also showed a relative fall in preventable emergency admissions for their patients with ID, compared with practices with minimal participation (IRR 0.73, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.95). There were large variations in the health check-related content that was recorded on electronic records. Limitations Patients with milder ID not known to health services were not identified. We could not comment on the quality of health checks. Conclusions Compared with the general population, adults with ID have more chronic diseases and greater primary and secondary care utilisation. With more than one-third of deaths potentially amenable to health-care interventions, improvements in access to, and quality of, health care are required. In primary care, better continuity of care and longer appointment times are important examples that we identified. Although annual health checks can also improve access, not every eligible adult with ID receives one, and health check content varies by practice. Health checks had no impact on overall emergency admissions, but they appeared influential in reducing preventable emergency admissions. Future work No formal cost-effectiveness analysis of annual health checks was performed, but this could be attempted in relation to our estimates of a reduction in preventable emergency admissions. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Psychotropic Medication Prescribing for Neuropsychiatric Comorbidities in Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the UK

“…b Start date is the latest of either the date of the patient's registration at the general practice or the date that the general practice began using vision software. R Date date of patient's registration in the GP, ASD Dx autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Psych Rx psychotropic drug prescription, NC Dx neuropsychiatric comorbidity diagnosis (University of Cambridge) and published studies (Barnett et al 2012;Murray et al 2014;Hire 2016;Carey et al 2017), and the descriptions of the codes have been reviewed by a psychiatrist in our research team.…”

The Effect of General Health Checks on Healthcare Utilization: Accounting for Self-Selection Bias

“…Olsen et al (1976) found a significant difference between the treatment group (health check recipients) and the control group (non-recipients) in terms of an increase in the number of night hospitalizations for the treatment group. In a study of adults with intellectual disabilities, health check-ups reduced preventable emergency admissions (Carey et al, 2016(Carey et al, , 2017. Our empirical analyses make use of a data set that was provided by the KNHIS.…”

Linked data analysis of learning disability health checks and emergency hospital admissions in the Kent Integrated Dataset

“…Health checks in persons with learning disability were associated with lower hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (IRR 0.82, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.99), the conditions for which hospital admission could be prevented by effective healthcare intervention. They found no significant difference in overall emergency hospital admissions, but there was evidence for greater impact in those with severe health needs (IRR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.95) (Carey et al., 2017a). Their analysis matched on age, sex and practice, and their results were stratified by individual characteristics, including sex, age band, down syndrome, communal accommodation, autism, epilepsy and severe health needs (Carey et al., 2017a).…”

“…They found no significant difference in overall emergency hospital admissions, but there was evidence for greater impact in those with severe health needs (IRR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.95) (Carey et al., 2017a). Their analysis matched on age, sex and practice, and their results were stratified by individual characteristics, including sex, age band, down syndrome, communal accommodation, autism, epilepsy and severe health needs (Carey et al., 2017a).…”

“…Whilst, this comprehensive study explored the impact of learning disability health checks on emergency hospital admission between 2009 and 2013 (Carey et al., 2017a). In a contemporary Kent‐wide analysis, we sought to explore the odds for emergency hospital admission in 2018/19, between those receiving and not receiving a learning disability health check during 2016/17 to 2018/19.…”