TITLE:
Utilizing the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to Understand the Aging of People Living in the Community with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
AUTHORS:
Philip McCallion, Junrong Shi, Lisa A. Ferretti, Mary McCarron
KEYWORDS:
Intellectual Disability, Developmental Disability, Aging, China
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.13 No.1,
January
26,
2021
ABSTRACT: There remain challenges in understanding the aging lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Method: A cross-sectional comparison of people with and without I/DD was created using China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A definition of I/DD was established, three samples were created: those with an assigned/described intellectual and developmental disability prior to age 22 years; those with similar impairments at and after age 22 years; and those in the population without an assigned/described impairment. Findings: Those with I/DD appeared to have greater health needs on initial analysis. People with an impairment similar to I/DD but occurring after age 22 years had the same or greater needs in subsequent analyses. Both groups had greater needs than those with no identified disability. Discussion: There must be greater efforts to discover those with I/DD who are already in existing datasets, greater attention to the full range of lives led by people with I/DD and inclusion of data from a broader range of countries.