Mortality of Parents of People with Intellectual Disabilities

In: Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities: JARID, Band 15, Heft 1, S. 18-27

Abstract

Background  The experience of caring for a son or daughter with an intellectual disability has long been recognized as stressful. The long‐term health costs for parents of people with intellectual disability have attracted some recent research attention, but mortality has not been studied.Methods  The present authors examined mortality as measured by the standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and cause of death for parents of people with intellectual disability, identified through an intellectual disability register in Merton, south London.Results  Although there was a trend for lower SMRs particularly for mothers, SMRs were not significantly different from unity. Subgroups of parents whose child was cared for predominantly in an institution, or in the family home were analysed and similarly showed no significant difference from unity. The same applied to cause of death analyses.Conclusions  These findings offer some reassurance to parents of people with intellectual disability. There is an urgent need for further research in this area.