Tse M My, Kwan R Yc, Lau J L
School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Med J. 2018 Feb;24(1):68-72. doi: 10.12809/hkmj166302. Epub 2018 Jan 12.
The increasing longevity of people with intellectual disability is testimony to the positive developments occurring in medical intervention. Nonetheless, early-onset age-related issues and concerns cause deterioration of their overall wellbeing. This paper aimed to explore the issues and concerns about individuals with intellectual disability as they age.
Articles that discussed people older than 30 years with an intellectual disability and those that identified ageing health issues and concerns were included. Only studies reported in English from 1996 to 2016 were included. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct using the terms 'intellectual disability', 'ageing', 'cognitive impairment', 'health', and 'screening'.
Apart from the early onset of age-related health problems, dementia is more likely to develop by the age of 40 years in individuals with intellectual disability. Geriatric services to people with intellectual disability, however, are only available for those aged 60 years and older. Cognitive instruments used for the general population are not suitable for people with intellectual disability because of floor effects. In Hong Kong, the Chinese version of the Dementia Screening Questionnaire for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities is the only validated instrument for people with intellectual disability. The use of appropriate measurement tools to monitor the progression of age-related conditions in individuals with intellectual disability is of great value.
Longitudinal assessment of cognition and function in people with intellectual disability is vital to enable early detection of significant deterioration. This allows for therapeutic intervention before substantial damage to the brain occurs such as dementia that hastens cognitive and functional decline.
智障人士寿命的延长证明了医学干预方面正在出现的积极进展。尽管如此，与年龄相关的早期问题和担忧导致他们的整体幸福感下降。本文旨在探讨智障人士随着年龄增长所面临的问题和担忧。
纳入讨论30岁以上智障人士以及确定与衰老相关的健康问题和担忧的文章。仅纳入1996年至2016年以英文发表的研究。我们使用“智障”、“衰老”、“认知障碍”、“健康”和“筛查”等术语在PubMed、谷歌学术和科学Direct上进行搜索。
除了与年龄相关的健康问题早发外，智障人士在40岁时更有可能患上痴呆症。然而，针对智障人士的老年服务仅适用于60岁及以上的人群。由于地板效应，用于普通人群的认知工具不适用于智障人士。在香港，《智障人士痴呆筛查问卷》中文版是唯一经过验证的适用于智障人士的工具。使用适当的测量工具来监测智障人士与年龄相关状况的进展具有重要价值。
对智障人士的认知和功能进行纵向评估对于早期发现显著恶化至关重要。这使得在大脑受到实质性损害（如导致认知和功能衰退加速的痴呆症）之前能够进行治疗干预。
