A number of studies have suggested that prevalence rates of mental ill-health in people with learning disabilities is higher than in the general population, although issues of definition have made it difficult to make clear comparisons. The authors of this review set out to identify trends and developments in the study of psychopathology in people [read the full story…]
The NHS Confederation Mental Health Network have updated their publication on key facts and trends in mental health. The 8-page PDF contains information about the prevalence of mental disorders, employment and housing, stigma and discrimination, current NHS spending, service activity, quality, safety and user experience. Here are some of the headlines: The largest increase in [read the full story…]
A group of researchers from Dresden in Germany have recently updated a review they originally published in 2005, which provides 12-month prevalence and disability burden estimates of a broad range of mental and neurological disorders in the European Union (EU). Their review included studies from all 27 EU member states plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway [read the full story…]
There continues to be some debate about the numbers of people with learning disabilities in UK prisons, partly due to the lack of consensus on definitions of learning disability in studies and different approaches to establishing the boundaries between learning difficulty, borderline learning disability and learning disability. The Bradley report recommended amongst its key recommendations [read the full story…]
Rett syndrome affects girls and is characterized by progressive motor disablement, loss of acquired skills, seizures and autism. Scoliosis is also a commonly seen as a complication and this study set out to describe its prevalence, classify spinal deformity, and evaluate associations between disability and scoliosis. 29 patients took part in the study, ages ranging [read the full story…]
The reporting of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms has been increasing in people with learning disability but researchers have also argued that such symptoms are being under diagnosed and also poorly treated. This review set out to identify the level of ADHD symptoms in children and adults with learning disabilities reported in published studies [read the full story…]
The estimates of prevalence of mental illness in people with a learning disability varies across studies. The authors of this study suggest that up to 50 % may develop significant psychiatric problems at some point in their lives. The researchers set out to look at ways in which community services for people with learning disabilities [read the full story…]
The extent to which mental disorder and learning disability co-occur varies substantially between studies. This review set out to identify studies in children and/or adolescents with acceptably rigorous methods and to ascertain key risk factors. The review found nine studies with acceptable methods, 4 which compared prevalence of mental disorder in populations of those with [read the full story…]
The healthcare needs of people with learning disabilities are well documented, we know they visit primary care professionals less often than would be expected and receive fewer screening tests and fewer health investigations. This U.S. study looked at the health status of ‘working-age adults with cognitive limitations’ and compared this with adults with no disability [read the full story…]
Researchers from the University of Leicester, UCL (University College London) and King’s College London have published a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry that appears to contradict the spate of recent news stories that the prevalence of mental disorder is on the rise. The researchers used data from three British Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys, [read the full story…]
