Mortality patterns in a Danish nationwide cohort of persons with intellectual disabilities

Mortality disparities among persons with intellectual disability are important to guide health-care practices. The objective was to evaluate mortality patterns of persons with intellectual disability in a nationwide study from 1976 to 2020. This study establishes a Danish nationwide cohort of persons with intellectual disability and age- and sex-matched reference cohort through linkage between several registers. We established a cohort of 79,114 persons with intellectual disability. Standardized mortality ratios were increased for persons with intellectual disability, most pronounced among younger persons and among females. Life expectancies were markedly lower; among persons with intellectual disability 63.6 years among females and 59.8 years among males in 2016-2020 compared to 82.4 and 78.7 years among females and males in the reference cohort. Life expectancies decreased with severity of intellectual disability. This study reports the establishment of a nationwide Danish cohort of persons with intellectual disability.

Automated summary

This study establishes a nationwide Danish cohort of persons with intellectual disability and compares their mortality patterns to a reference cohort. The findings show that individuals with intellectual disability have higher mortality rates, particularly among younger people and females. Life expectancies are significantly lower for people with intellectual disability compared to the reference cohort, and decrease with severity of intellectual disability.