Providers urged to address learning disability issues as huge health gaps revealed

The largest report ever conducted into the health of people with learning disabilities in England has led to calls for commissioners to address the needs of this demographic, after finding that they are at a significantly higher risk of common health problems.

The NHS Digital report, which drew on data covering 51% of the patient population, found that the average life expectancy of people with learning disabilities is 18 years below the general population for women and 14 years for men.

People with learning disabilities were twice as likely as the general population to suffer from diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease or strokes, and 26 times more likely to have epilepsy.

Kathryn Salt, NHS Digital’s responsible statistician, said: “We are delighted to have been able to collect and publish these data, as they provide the first information of its kind on the lives of the many thousands of people who have learning disabilities in England.

“We hope that this report will play a big part in identifying where provisions are working well and where they may need to be improved to better meet the needs of people with learning disabilities.”

The report found that people with learning disabilities aged 18-35 are twice as likely to be obese, and people over 64 are twice as likely to be underweight.

Just half of women with learning disabilities had been screened for breast cancer, compared to two-thirds of women without.

Regarding mental health, people with learning disabilities were five times more likely to have dementia and eight times more likely to have severe mental illnesses.

Professor Gyles Glover, co-director of the learning disabilities observatory team at Public Health England, who helped to produce the report, said: “We hope local health care commissioners and providers will use these data to understand better the key health issues for this vulnerable group and how to tackle them more effectively.”

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