#7171 Adults with intellectual disability: what do we know about visual and hearing impairments? A cross-sectional analysis

<h3>Aims/Objectives</h3> The main aim of this study was to determine the extent of visual and hearing impairments in adults with intellectual disability. We also wanted to explore the aetiology of visual and hearing impairments in our cohort. <h3>Background</h3> Deafness and blindness are common in those with intellectual disability; however, this can be left unrecognised due to diagnostic overshadowing. It should be a priority to develop a better understanding of these co-morbidities, as presentation of visual and hearing impairments could be mistaken with dementia, challenging behaviours or mental health problems in this population. <h3>Methodology</h3> We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Leicestershire Intellectual Disability Register, which identified 3183 adults (age ≥ 18 years) at the time of study. Service users and carers were also interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data on the nature and degree of visual and hearing impairments, and their aetiological factors. Pearson Chi-squared tests were carried out to investigate any association between visual and hearing impairments and other variables. <h3>Results</h3> The results confirmed that visual and hearing impairments were prevalent in adults with intellectual disability. Approximately 1 in 5 adults with intellectual disability were found to have visual or hearing impairments (n=634/3183). 51 (1.6%) individuals were identified with total deafness and 175 with partial hearing impairment (5.6%). The study also identified 114 service users with total blindness (3.6%) and 272 (8.7%) service users with partial visual impairment. There were 22 service users with deaf blindness. The results also revealed that both visual and hearing impairments were significantly associated with severity of intellectual disability and age. Aetiological factors for the congenital visual and hearing impairments included genetic syndromes, prematurity, trauma/hypoxia/infections prior, during and shortly after birth. Our study also identified significant amount of unmet health and social needs in this population. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Our study highlights a high prevalence of blindness, deafness and deaf blindness in adults with intellectual disability. The probability of missing sensory impairments in those with intellectual disability increases if these are not objectively screened for by specialist audiology/ophthalmology services. This may result in delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis and have adverse impacts on their quality of life as well as carers’ stress.