UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of adults with intellectual impairment: evidence from two longitudinal UK surveys

Totsika, V; Emerson, E; Hastings, RP; Hatton, C; (2021) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of adults with intellectual impairment: evidence from two longitudinal UK surveys. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 10.1111/jir.12866. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of Totsika_The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of adults with intellectual impairment- evidence from two longitudinal UK surveys_AOP.pdf]
Preview
Text
Totsika_The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of adults with intellectual impairment- evidence from two longitudinal UK surveys_AOP.pdf - Published Version

Download (190kB) | Preview

Abstract

BACKGROUND: People with an intellectual impairment experience high levels of social and health inequalities. We investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the physical and mental health of people with intellectual impairment, controlling for demographic risk, socio-economic circumstances and pre-pandemic health levels. METHOD: Data were drawn from two UK birth cohorts that surveyed their participants on the impact of COVID-19 in May 2020: the Millennium Cohort Study (20-year-old participants) and the British Cohort Survey (50-year-old participants). Health outcomes (COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 symptoms, self-reported physical health, mental health, health service use and impact on health behaviours) were compared between people with and without intellectual impairment, adjusting for gender and ethnicity. Differences were further adjusted for self-reported health pre-pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 on socio-economic circumstances. RESULTS: Controlling for gender and ethnicity, poor health was reported less often by younger adults [relative risks (RR): 0.44 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23, 0.86] and more often by older adults (RR: 1.99 95% CI 1.45, 2.73) with intellectual impairment compared with peers. Older adults were also more likely to experience fever and loss of taste/smell. Adjusting for pre-pandemic health and socio-economic circumstances eliminated some differences in the older cohort, but not in the younger one. CONCLUSION: In young adulthood, the impact of COVID-19 on health outcomes was not negative. The pattern was reversed in later adulthood, although differences were mostly eliminated after adjustment suggesting a socio-economic and age gradient of COVID-19 impacts on intellectual impairment.

Type: Article
Title: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of adults with intellectual impairment: evidence from two longitudinal UK surveys
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/jir.12866
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12866
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research published by MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disibilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: COVID-19 symptoms, health behaviours, intellectual impairment, mental health, physical health
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131240
Downloads since deposit
40Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item