Census 2011: People with learning disabilities & autism

Multimorbidity | Last Updated: 23 Mar 26

Background

People with learning disabilities and autism make up 0.1% of the total population of Scotland, 18.0% of the whole population of people with autism in Scotland and 21.7% of the whole population of people with learning disabilities across all ages. Despite the prevalence rates of people who have both conditions, little is known about the physical or mental health status of this group within whole country populations.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of mental health conditions, physical disabilities and other disabilities for people who have both learning disabilities and autism. A further aim was to look at the extent to which these conditions limited daily activities.

What we did

Data was analysed from Scotland's Census 2011, and descriptive statistics were generated about people with both learning disabilities and autism, compared with the general population.

What we found

The census reported that 43.2% of people with learning disabilities and autism had physical disabilities compared to only 6.7% of the general population. The proportion of people with mental health conditions was 31.3% for people with both conditions compared to 4.4% of the general population. 49.6% of people with learning disabilities and autism reported other long-term illnesses or diseases compared to 18.6% of the general population. Day-to-day activities were limited a lot because of long term health problems or disabilities for 73.1% of people with learning disabilities and autism, compared to 9.5% of the general population.

What these findings mean

Health is poorer for people with comorbid autism and intellectual disabilities than for people in the general population. They are more likely to report physical and mental health problems, long term illnesses and experience more resultant limitations on their daily activities. The Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory is conducting further analysis on data from Scotland's 2011 Census.

Read the full article published in the BMJ Open at the link below.

Project information last updated 1 May 2018

Group member(s) involved with this study

Dr Kirsty Dunn

Kirsty is a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Glasgow, and is an affiliate of the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory, having joined the team in 2015. She is interested in the health and wellbeing of individuals with learning disabilities and their families. Previously, Kirsty has worked on projects examining patterns of hospital admissions, prevalence of physical and mental health conditions, and the impact of caring for a son/daughter with learning disabilities on fathers. Her current research projects are exploring: The impact of bullying on young people's mental health Common mental health conditions experienced by children and young people Patterns of long-term health conditions and prescribing in adults

Dr Ewelina Rydzewska-Fazekas

Ewelina is an Affiliate Associate Researcher with the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory. Ewelina's work with the Observatory focused around health inequalities and the health needs of people with autism. She is now based at the University of Edinburgh School as a Lecturer in Health Futures at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and School of Health in Social Science.

Professor Anna Cooper

Anna set up the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory with funding from the Scottish Government. She wants the Observatory to make Scotland fairer and healthier for people with learning disabilities and their families, by: Finding out the health problems people have Finding out how good or bad health care is Telling people about health and health care problems Finding ways to make health and health care better Checking if health gets better or worse over time Helping the Scottish Government, and staff who provide health and social services, to get it right for people with learning disabilities Anna is a doctor. She has done a lot of studies on the health of people with learning disabilities. Anna’s full name is Professor Sally-Ann Cooper.