Prevalence of drug use among adults with intellectual disabilities compared with drug use in the general population

Abstract

Purpose Individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have more health problems, a poorer general health, and a shorter life expectancy than individuals in general. High rates of drug use in IDs have been reported. Despite the increasing interest in health problems in individuals with IDs, little is known about their drug use. Method Drug use in a community sample of adults with IDs (N = 593) was compared with dispensed drugs in a time‐, age‐, and region‐matched comparison group of adults in Western Norway (N = 289 325). A logistic regression model was employed by using the main group effect to describe and analyze the differences between the ID sample and the comparison sample and by using the interaction term (group × age) to describe the rate change differences from the reference age (18‐30 years) between the two groups. Results Total drug use in the ID sample was 62% compared with 50% in the reference sample (P = 0.0001). The high prevalence of drugs for the nervous system (ATC N) in the ID sample (50%) explained the difference. From age 51 and over, the increase in the drug use rate for the cardiovascular disease was significantly lower in the ID sample than in the reference sample (P value range: 0.002‐0.019). Conclusions Adults with IDs use more drugs than adults in general. However, the findings showed lower rates of drug use in the ID sample than in the general population for drugs targeting diseases that are the leading causes of death in individuals with IDs.

Polypharmacy and psychotropic polypharmacy in adults with intellectual disability: a cross‐sectional total population study

“…People with intellectual disability (ID) have considerably greater health needs than the general population (Hughes-McCormack et al 2018;Kinnear et al 2018;McMahon and Hatton 2020) and are more likely to die at an earlier age than their nondisabled peers (Glover et al 2017;O'Leary et al 2018). They are prescribed more medication than people without IDs, and polypharmacy is common in this population (Emerson et al 2016;O'Dwyer et al 2017O'Dwyer et al , 2019Hove et al 2019). Although polypharmacy may be clinically indicated and considered appropriate (Masnoon et al 2017), the concurrent use of many drugs increases the risk of an individual developing adverse effects and is related to poorer outcomes (O'Dwyer et al 2018).…”

“…While it is important that the high use of psychotropic drugs in this population is addressed as a matter of urgency (Valdovinos et al 2009;Matson and Mahan 2010), it is also essential that overall prescribing patterns are examined. Medication use and polypharmacy, in particular, can serve as an important indicator of potential mortality as it represents the burden of disease that this population experiences (Hove et al 2019). Studies of the prevalence of polypharmacy in people with an ID report rates varying from 11% to 60% (Stortz et al 2014).…”

“…2017, 2019; Hove et al . 2019). Although polypharmacy may be clinically indicated and considered appropriate (Masnoon et al .…”

“…Medication use and polypharmacy, in particular, can serve as an important indicator of potential mortality as it represents the burden of disease that this population experiences (Hove et al . 2019). Studies of the prevalence of polypharmacy in people with an ID report rates varying from 11% to 60% (Stortz et al .…”

Disparities in the Use of Guideline-Based Pharmacotherapy Exist for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Heart Failure Patients Who Have Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities in a Commercially Insured Database

“…19 Another study found the opposite, with lower prevalence of use of cardiovascular medications in adults with IDD than the general population. 20 Of note, this study did not link use of medications to an existing diagnosis. Still, as pointed out by the investigators, there may be issues with underuse for people who have IDD.…”