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Reporting of health problems and pain by adults with an intellectual disability and by their carers
- Authors:
- TURK Vicky, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 25(2), March 2012, pp.155-165.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Recent years have seen increased efforts to identify and overcome the barriers that people with intellectual disability can experience when accessing health care. Information about the health of people with ID is usually obtained from professionals and carers. This study looked at information provided by people with ID themselves and the difference between self-reports and carer’s information. The data analysed was baseline health information for 98 participants with ID taking part in a RCT and living in south east London. Less than three quarters of participants said they had someone to talk to about their health (68/93). Pain was reported by 67% (66/98) with 18% (17/95) saying they did not tell anyone when in pain, and 27% (26/97) they did not take pain relief medication. Matched carer data for 59 participants revealed a similar number of health problems to those reported by participants when prompted with specific problems. Participants reported more headaches and allergies, but fewer weight problems than their carers. Concordance was poor for many problems. The authors conclude that adults with ID can report health problems, although many chose not to. The information provided on pain and mental health suggests that their some of their needs may be going unrecognised.