Dataset Information

Prevalence of long-term health conditions in adults with autism: observational study of a whole country population.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To investigate the prevalence of comorbid mental health conditions and physical disabilities in a whole country population of adults aged 25+ with?and without reported autism.

Design

Secondary analysis of Scotland's Census, 2011 data. Cross-sectional study.

Setting

General population.

Participants

94% of Scotland's population, including 6649/3 746 584 adults aged 25+ reported?to have autism.

Main outcome measures

Prevalence of six comorbidities: deafness or partial hearing loss, blindness or partial sight loss, intellectual disabilities, mental health conditions, physical disability and other condition; ORs (95% CI) of autism predicting these comorbidities, adjusted for age and gender; and OR for age and gender in predicting comorbidities within the population with reported autism.

Results

Comorbidities were common: deafness/hearing loss-14.1%; blindness/sight loss-12.1%; intellectual disabilities-29.4%; mental health conditions-33.0%; physical disability-24.0%; other condition-34.1%. Autism statistically predicted all of the conditions: OR 3.3 (95% CI 3.1 to 3.6) for deafness or partial hearing loss, OR 8.5 (95% CI 7.9 to 9.2) for blindness or partial sight loss, OR 94.6 (95% CI 89.4 to 100.0) for intellectual disabilities, OR 8.6 (95% CI 8.2 to 9.1) for mental health conditions, OR 6.2 (95% CI 5.8 to 6.6) for physical disability and OR 2.6 (95% CI 2.5 to 2.8) for other condition. Contrary to findings within the general population, female gender predicted all conditions within the population with reported autism, including intellectual disabilities (OR=1.4).

Conclusions

Clinicians need heightened awareness of comorbidities in adults with autism to improve detection and suitable care, especially given the added complexity of assessment in this population and the fact that hearing and visual impairments may cause additional difficulties with reciprocal communication which are also a feature of autism; hence posing further challenges in assessment.

SUBMITTER: Rydzewska E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6120653 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Prevalence of long-term health conditions in adults with autism: observational study of a whole country population.

Rydzewska Ewelina E Hughes-McCormack Laura Anne LA Gillberg Christopher C Henderson Angela A MacIntyre Cecilia C Rintoul Julie J Cooper Sally-Ann SA

BMJ open 20180901 8

<h4>Objectives</h4>To investigate the prevalence of comorbid mental health conditions and physical disabilities in a whole country population of adults aged 25+ with and without reported autism.<h4>Design</h4>Secondary analysis of Scotland's Census, 2011 data. Cross-sectional study.<h4>Setting</h4>General population.<h4>Participants</h4>94% of Scotland's population, including 6649/3 746 584 adults aged 25+ reported to have autism.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>Prevalence of six comorbidities: dea ...[more]

PMID: 30173164

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Project description:ObjectivesData on population healthcare utilisation (HCU) across both primary and secondary care during the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking. We describe primary and secondary HCU stratified by long-term conditions (LTCs) and deprivation, during the first 19 months of COVID-19 pandemic across a large urban area in the UK.DesignA retrospective, observational study.SettingAll primary and secondary care organisations that contributed to the Greater Manchester Care Record throughout 30 December 2019 to 1 August 2021.Participants3 225 169 patients who were registered with or attended a National Health Service primary or secondary care service during the study period.Primary outcomesPrimary care HCU (incident prescribing and recording of healthcare information) and secondary care HCU (planned and unplanned admissions) were assessed.ResultsThe first national lockdown was associated with reductions in all primary HCU measures, ranging from 24.7% (24.0% to 25.5%) for incident prescribing to 84.9% (84.2% to 85.5%) for cholesterol monitoring. Secondary HCU also dropped significantly for planned (47.4% (42.9% to 51.5%)) and unplanned admissions (35.3% (28.3% to 41.6%)). Only secondary care had significant reductions in HCU during the second national lockdown. Primary HCU measures had not recovered to prepandemic levels by the end of the study. The secondary admission rate ratio between multi-morbid patients and those without LTCs increased during the first lockdown by a factor of 2.40 (2.05 to 2.82; p<0.001) for planned admissions and 1.25 (1.07 to 1.47; p=0.006) for unplanned admissions. No significant changes in this ratio were observed in primary HCU.ConclusionMajor changes in primary and secondary HCU were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary HCU reduced more in those without LTCs and the ratio of utilisation between patients from the most and least deprived areas increased for the majority of HCU measures. Overall primary and secondary care HCU for some LTC groups had not returned to prepandemic levels by the end of the study.

Dataset Information

Prevalence of long-term health conditions in adults with autism: observational study of a whole country population.

Objectives

Design

Setting

Participants

Main outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Prevalence of long-term health conditions in adults with autism: observational study of a whole country population.

Similar Datasets

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