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Substantial premature mortality in people with learning disabilities

Premature mortality from treatable causes continues to remain high for individuals with learning disabilities in England, the latest report from the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) programme indicates.

The latest annual LeDeR report published by the University of Bristol is based on the review of 2126 deaths of individuals with learning disabilities between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019.

The report found that treatable causes of mortality accounted for 403 per 100,000 deaths in individuals with learning disabilities compared with a significantly lower 83 per 100,000 deaths in the general population.

While 85 per cent of deaths in the general population happen at or after 65 years of age, only 37 per cent of deaths in individuals with learning disabilities occur at this age. This shows that the majority of individuals with learning disabilities continue to die prematurely.

Among the deaths reported to LeDeR in 2019, two-fifths of adult deaths and nearly a quarter of paediatric deaths resulted from pneumonia, a treatable illness.

Professor Pauline Heslop, the LeDeR programme lead, said: "The disparity between people with learning disabilities and the general population in relation to average age at death, causes of death, and avoidable causes of death remains substantial and urgent action is needed."

The complete 2019 LeDeR Annual Report can be accessed here.


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