Preventing pneumonia in people with learning disabilities with vaccinations

Multimorbidity | Last Updated: 14 Apr 26

Background

People with learning disabilities of experience poorer health and die much younger than the general population. Pneumonia is one of the main reasons for this difference. It is a leading cause of emergency hospital admissions and avoidable deaths for this group, and some people, such as people with Down's Syndrome or people with severe or profound learning disabilities, are at particularly high risk.

Many cases of pneumonia can be prevented. Early recognition, timely treatment, and effective vaccination programmes all play a role. However, we do not yet have a clear picture of how often people with learning disabilities develop pneumonia, how serious the outcomes are, and which infections (such as flu, RSV, or pneumococcal bacteria) are contributing the most. We also need a better understanding of who is at greatest risk and which factors influence this. This project aims to fill these gaps so that preventable illnesses and deaths can be reduced.

What we are doing

This project has three connected stages, each building on the previous one.

Understanding the scale of the problem

We are using NHS data from English GP practices, hospitals, and death records to examine how common pneumonia is among people with learning disabilities and how serious it becomes. We compare this group with people who do not have learning disabilities so that we can see where the biggest differences lie. Through this work, we will create a detailed picture of how often people seek help from their GP about pneumonia, how often they require hospital treatment, and how often pneumonia leads to death. We will also explore how factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, other health conditions, learning disability severity, and the presence of Down syndrome influence risk. Finally, we will identify which infections cause the greatest harm.

Assessing how well influenza vaccinations work

Using the same data, we will examine both the uptake of influenza vaccinations and how effectively they protect people with learning disabilities. By analysing real-world health records, we can estimate how well the flu vaccine reduces illness and severe outcomes in this population. This will also allow us to understand how much health could be improved if more people received the vaccine, and what the impact might be if all people with learning disabilities were routinely eligible for it. This stage will provide important evidence for shaping vaccination policy and service planning.

Improving vaccination uptake

Many people with learning disabilities face challenges in accessing vaccinations. These may include difficulty navigating booking systems, lack of accessible information, or anxiety about the vaccination process. We plan to work closely with people with learning disabilities, their families, and healthcare professionals to understand these barriers in detail. Using what we learn, we will develop and test practical approaches to help make vaccination easier and less stressful. This could include clearer communication, simpler appointment processes, or tailored support during vaccination. The aim is to increase uptake and, ultimately, prevent more cases of pneumonia.

Group member(s) involved in this research

25 035 Scottish Learning Disability Staff Portraits Elliot Millington 003 staff image

Dr Elliot Millington

Elliot is a Research Associate with the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory. He recently completed his PhD with the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, also at the University of Glasgow. His thesis explores the links between sensory processing and anxiety in autistic adults. Elliot has a quantitative focus and will be finding insights in large administrative datasets which can reduce the health inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities.

Professor Craig Melville

Craig is a Professor of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry in the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. His work focuses on using evidence from research to inform the development of interventions and policy to improve the health of people with neurodevelopmental conditions. Craig has worked on clinical trials of complex interventions, such as psychological therapies, weight management and health checks in primary care. Evidence from epidemiological research has been central to the development of these clinical trials and his work with SLDO centres on how to use Scotland’s national datasets to understand and tackle the health inequalities experienced by people with neurodevelopmental conditions.