North Health in Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability (ID) is a diagnosis characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills. The disability originates before age 18 years. People with IDs will often require health- and social services throughout their lifetimes. Studies report worse health among people with IDs compared to the general population, in addition to more unmet healthcare needs and more difficulty accessing healthcare. There are also concerns about low levels of physical activity in this population. In general health surveys in Norway do not include people with intellectual disabilities, and studies of health indicators in this group are largely lacking. Further, the unique organization of services for this group in Norway calls for specific research efforts. This project will use multinational health indicators for youths and adults with IDs in a biopsychosocial context in attempt to identify unmet health care needs to improve services. In addition to a description of the health indicators, the objective of this project is delimited to assess the health determinant physical activity level in association with body mass index (BMI) and functioning.