Edited by O’Hara J, McCarthy J, Bouras N. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Paperback, 231 pages, £29.99. ISBN: 9780521728898.
This book provides a timely review of a growing body of literature on the medical and psychiatric morbidity experienced by people with intellectual disability. Compared to the general population, people with intellectual disability experience higher rates of specific physical health disorders, higher rates of mental disorders and higher mortality. The knowledge of specific health issues and relevant aetiological factors for this group is rapidly expanding. It is important that this knowledge is shared in order that the inequities in access to health care and health status are addressed for this group. In response to this need, the editors have collated a multi-author volume which assembles and reviews key aspects of health in people with intellectual disability. In doing so, they provide an accessible tool which provides a ready reference to the specific ill health experienced by this group.
It is pleasing to see that psychiatrists and neuropsychiatrists with expertise in intellectual disability are strongly represented in the list of authors and demonstrate their sophisticated knowledge of topics related to mental health and internal medicine. Other craft groups including general practitioners, physicians of various types and surgeons are also represented. The approach taken in each chapter is reasonably systematic and includes an outline of the specific search strategy adopted, followed by a brief summary of the search results and a detailed discussion of the findings.
The book is arranged into three sections. The first of these is a relatively short section relating to health care and aetiology of intellectual disability. This section provides a useful introduction to the field. An initial chapter overviews access to healthcare, service needs and system issues relating to the delivery of health care. Subsequent chapters provide a good overview of congenital and environmental causes of intellectual disability. The latter also includes information on the impact of environmental factors on people with intellectual disability, including the effects of injury and trauma. The second and largest section of the book is devoted to major physical health and systems disorders. The topics covered in this section are reflective of the major disorders or systems of importance in the health of people with intellectual disability and cover a broad range, from the immune system to endocrine disorders and respiratory diseases. Some of the chapters in this section also include a useful discussion of relevant aetiological factors. Occasionally, this represented duplication of material contained in the first section. The third section deals with mental illness, neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders.
A major strength of this book is the inclusion of substantial detail regarding the specific vulnerabilities to ill health associated with some causes of intellectual disability. The readers will find themselves equipped with an expanded knowledge base which can be readily translated into the health care setting. Clinicians in all fields of medicine encounter people with intellectual disability in their practice. Such a book is an asset, not only for the clinician with an interest or expertise in intellectual disability, but for the majority of general practitioners and internal medicine specialists.
