Prevalence of learning disabilities varies considerably between studies. People with learning disabilities experience health inequalities, but most studies comprise small or incomplete populations. We investigated in a whole country population (1) prevalence of learning disabilities, and age of identification, (2) general health status compared with the general population.
We used data from Scotland’s Census, 2011. We calculated the prevalence of learning disabilities by age; reported general health status of people with and without learning disabilities; and the extent of health-related limitations to daily activities. We conducted logistic regressions to determine the odds ratios of learning disabilities predicting poor general health, and the associations with age and gender.
26,349/5,295,403 (0.5%) had learning disabilities; 15,149 (57.5%) males and 11,200 (42.5%) females; 5,234 (0.6%) children (0-15), and 21,115 (0.5%) adults (16-75+). Identification of learning disabilities rises until age 5 years, with a further small rise by age 9. Children and adults with learning disabilities reported poorer general health (47.9% and 40.3%), than the general population (2.1% and 13.8%), and were more limited in activities by their health. Learning disabilities had an odds ratio of 9.2 (95% CI: 8.9-9.4) in predicting poor general health. Within the learning disabilities population, it is not until after age 45 that the health-related effects of ageing outweigh the health-related effects of the most severe learning disabilities.
People with learning disabilities have poorer general health than other people, especially children and young people. Accurate information on population prevalence and health status is essential to plan appropriate resources and healthcare.
You can read the full article published in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities (JARID) at the link below.
Project information last updated 25 August 2020
Laura is a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Glasgow, and an affiliate of the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory, having joined the team in 2015. With the Observatory, Laura was involved in projects looking at the health of people with learning disabilities in a number of large data-sets, including primary health care records, Scotland's 2011 Census and health records of people born with Down Syndrome in Scotland over a 25 year period. Laura studied Psychology and has extensive experience of working with people with learning disabilities in her previous roles, for example, as a Befriender, a Learning Assistant and an Assistant Psychologist. Read more about Laura at the link below
Anna set up the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory with funding from the Scottish Government. She wants the Observatory to make Scotland fairer and healthier for people with learning disabilities and their families, by: Finding out the health problems people have Finding out how good or bad health care is Telling people about health and health care problems Finding ways to make health and health care better Checking if health gets better or worse over time Helping the Scottish Government, and staff who provide health and social services, to get it right for people with learning disabilities Anna is a doctor. She has done a lot of studies on the health of people with learning disabilities. Anna’s full name is Professor Sally-Ann Cooper.
Angela was formerly the Director for Policy and Impact for the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory and remains an affiliate team member, having moved in 2024 to work with the Scottish Government leading the development of annual health checks and learning disabilities data. Angela is interested in how evidence is used in policy making and was involved in many projects at the Observatory. These included: Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on people with learning disabilities The Research Voices Project Helping to set up the SPIRE learning disabilities data project Analysing information about drug prescribing for people with learning disabilities
