Causes of death of persons with developmental disabilities: comparison of institutional and community residents.
Between 1993 and 1995, 1,878 persons transferred from California institutions into the community. By early 1996, 45 had died--significantly more than expected (Strauss, Shavelle, Baumeister, and Anderson, 1998). We report here on the death certificates for this group, using a comparison group of 45 certificates for institutional residents. Thirty-two of the community deaths versus 10 of the institution deaths were "sudden" or "subacute." All of the institution deaths versus 79% of the community deaths were reported to the coroner, and 55% of the institutional deaths were followed by autopsy compared to 33% in the community. Six deaths were due to perforated bowels, 5 of which were in individuals residing in the community.
Strauss
D
D
Department of Statistics, University of California at Riverside 92521, USA.
Anderson
T W
TW
Shavelle
R
R
Sheridan
F
F
Trenkle
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003644:Death Certificates; D003688:Deinstitutionalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000401:mortality* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies