New publication: Australian first research by 3DN on potentially preventable hospitalisations of people with intellectual disability | Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN)

3DN is now part of the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health

3DN’s Australian first research published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that people with intellectual disability are up to 4.5 times more likely to be hospitalised for conditions that could have been adequately managed in primary care or through prevention.

Potentially preventable hospitalisations are a marker of poor access to primary and community-based health care and are a symptom of the systemic neglect faced by people with intellectual disability in the Australian health care system.

This study found that epilepsy accounted for the highest rates of preventable hospitalisations for people with intellectual disability. At a rate up to 25.7 times more than for the general population.

People with intellectual disability were also found to be up to three times more likely than the NSW population to be hospitalised for a vaccine-preventable condition.

The research team calls for systemic action to reduce the rates of preventable hospitalisation for people with intellectual disability. Including a national population health strategy for people with intellectual disability.

Full article can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51088

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