Aging in adults with intellectual disabilities.
A cross-sequential design was used to examine changes related to aging in adults with and without Down syndrome (ns = 55 and 75, respectively). Adults received yearly neuropsychological and medical evaluations. Support for precocious aging in adults with Down syndrome was evident only on a test of verbal fluency, with weaker support obtained on a test of fine-motor skills. Cross-sectional age differences for all adults were obtained on tests of memory and community living skills. General intellectual level, gender, and psychiatric status were consistently related to performance, indicating the need to examine such mediating variables in studies on aging.
Burt
Diana B
DB
University of Texas Medical School-Houston, USA. dbburt@chorus.net
Primeaux-Hart
Sharon
S
Loveland
Katherine A
KA
Cleveland
Lynne A
LA
Lewis
Kay R
KR
Lesser
Jary
J
Pearson
Pamela L
PL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D019588:Aging, Premature / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012307:Risk Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data