Researchers from Trinity College have launched a special report on COVID-19 and older people with intellectual disabilities, which has found that COVID-19 was well managed in ID services but calls for decisions to impose further restrictions during the pandemic as data-driven, as they have been for the non-ID population.
The report has recorded a small number of COVID-19 infections amongst their respondents and no deaths during the initial lockdown of 2021.
“The Impact of COVID-19 on People Aging with an Intellectual Disability in Ireland’ report was formally launched by the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Minister Anne Rabbitte TD. It is part of the Intellectual Disability Supplement to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (IDS-TILDA) study for Trinity and marks the United Nations International Day of People with Disabilities.
The research found that almost two-thirds (62.4%) of the 710 older adults with ID surveyed were tested for COVID-19, with only 11 people testing positive, and no reported deaths. This gives an overall infection rate of 2.5%, lower than the national positivity of 3.4% in the same period.
Infection rates of 4.6% among participants in residential care were much lower than incidences of infection reported internationally for general nursing home populations. For example, by June 2020, over 70% of facilities in the US reported COVID-19 and Irish nursing homes’ cases accounted for 22% of all cases in the country and over half of all deaths.
Overall, 10% of IDS-TILDA participants reported COVID-19-like symptoms. Of those participants who had symptoms or tested positive, over three-quarters (78.7%) had plans to manage self-isolation according to guidelines. Most were able to comply with the guidelines. There were 139 older adults with Down syndrome included in this study and none tested positive for COVID 19. This is a welcome finding given the high-risk of adverse infection outcomes among this population. A recently reported UK study which estimated a four-fold increased risk of hospitalization and a ten-fold increased risk of death related to COVID-19 for people with Down syndrome.
