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Safety and quality issues in health care for people with intellectual disability

International and national research identifies a number of safety and quality issues in health care for people with intellectual disability, including:[17],[18],[19],[20]

  • Higher mortality rate and comparatively lower life expectancy than people without intellectual disability3,10,20,[21]
  • Preventable hospitalisations
  • High morbidity, including from chronic disease 
  • Unmet healthcare needs such as delayed diagnosis and/or treatment
  • Risks from polypharmacy
  • Greater likelihood of being subject to restrictive practices
  • High burden of potentially preventable health conditions
  • Lower rates of access to preventive health and screening programs.
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