Background: Life expectancy of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) is rapidly normalizing, as are prevalences of age-related cardiovascular disease in this group. We investigated the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the older population with ID and associations with patient characteristics.
Methods: Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, according to National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, was assessed with standardized physical examinations in 470 Dutch adults with ID, aged ≥50 years, who receive residential care from three Dutch care providing organizations. Because of skewing towards an overrepresentation of females and more moderate to severe ID in the study population, reweighting was applied to obtain a representative population prevalence. Correlations with patient characteristics were analysed with logistic regression analyses.
Results: Four hundred and twelve participants completed all assessments. The weighted prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 25.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 21.0-29.3%], with a significantly higher risk for people with mild ID.
Conclusions: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the population with ID is significantly higher than that in the general Dutch population aged ≥50 years (15.7%, 95% CI 13.5-17.9%).