Psychotropic Medications in Adults with Intellectual Disability: A Population-Based Study

Intellectual disability is common and is associated with communication difficulties and atypical behaviors that might not indicate a mental disorder but might nevertheless complicate the recognition and management of mental illness. These researchers analyzed a population-based U.K. database to examine the prevalence of mental health diagnoses, challenging behaviors (e.g., agitation, aggression, withdrawal, arson, and inappropriate sexual contact), and psychotropic drug prescription in 33,016 adults with intellectual disability from 1999 to 2013.

Rates of mental illness, challenging behavior, and psychotropic prescription were 21% (severe illness, 7%), 25%, and 49% in 1999 and 34% (severe illness, 9%), 36%, and 63% by 2013. Challenging behav…