Onset aging conditions of adults with an intellectual disability associated with primary caregiver depression Lan-Ping Lin a,b,1 , Shang-Wei Hsu c,d,1 , Meng-Ting Kuo a , Jia-Lin Wu e , Cordia Chu a,f , Jin-Ding Lin a,e,f, * a School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan b Department of Senior Citizen Service Management, Ching-Kuo Institute of Management and Health, Keelung City, Taiwan c Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung City, Taiwan d Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan e Chung-Hua Foundation for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, New Taipei City, Taiwan f Centre for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia 1. Introduction Gallagher, Phillips, Oliver, and Carroll (2008) reported that parents of children with an intellectual disability (ID) registered high depression and anxiety scores, and the majority met the criteria for possible clinical depression and/or Research in Developmental Disabilities 35 (2014) 632–638 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 15 November 2013 Received in revised form 30 December 2013 Accepted 30 December 2013 Available online 24 January 2014 Keywords: Aging Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9 Intellectual disability Caregiver Depression Mental health A B S T R A C T Caregivers of adults with an intellectual disability experience depressive symptoms, but the aging factors of the care recipients associated with the depressive symptoms are unknown. The objective of this study was to analyze the onset aging conditions of adults with an intellectual disability that associated with the depression scores of their primary caregivers. A cross-sectional survey was administered to gather information from 455 caregivers of adults with an intellectual disability about their symptoms of depression which assessed by a 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The 12 aging conditions of adults with an intellectual disability include physical and mental health. The results indicate that 78% of adults with an intellectual disability demonstrate aging conditions. Physical conditions associated with aging include hearing decline (66.3%), vision decline (63.6%), incontinence (44%), articulation and bone degeneration (57.9%), teeth loss (80.4), physical strength decline (81.2%), sense of taste and smell decline (52.8%), and accompanied chronic illnesses (74.6%). Mental conditions associated with aging include memory loss (77%), language ability deterioration (74.4%), poor sleep quality (74.2%), and easy onset of depression and sadness (50.3%). Aging conditions of adults with an intellectual disability (p < 0.001) was one factor that significantly affected the presence of depressive symptom among caregivers after controlling demographic characteristics. Particularly, poor sleep quality of adults with an intellectual disability (yes vs. no, OR = 3.807, p = 0.002) was statistically correlated to the occurrence of significant depressive symptoms among their caregivers. This study suggests that the authorities should reorient community services and future policies toward the needs of family caregivers to decrease the burdens associated with caregiving. ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, No. 161, Min-Chun East Road, Section 6, Nei-Hu, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 87923100x18447; fax: +886 2 87923147. E-mail addresses: a530706@ndmctsgh.edu.tw, jack.lin1964@gmail.com (J.-D. Lin). 1 Contributed equally to this paper. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.12.013