Persons with Down syndrome in residential care in Israel: trends for 1998-2006.
Life expectancy for persons with Down syndrome has increased over the past 100 years and today ranges around 60 years of age. Improvement in health care and especially a change toward a more positive attitude toward this population has resulted in this trend. This study was conducted to learn the trend of the population of persons with Down syndrome in residential care in Israel.


METHODS
An annual questionnaire sent to the medical clinics in all residential care centers for the 1998-2006 period was analyzed to study the trend of the number of persons with Down syndrome.


RESULTS
This survey revealed that the population has been relatively stable over the years with around 500 to 600 persons or about 9% of the total population in residential care. In 2006, a decrease was observed with a total of 529 persons or 7.73% of the total residential care population.


CONCLUSIONS
The annual questionnaire did not provide details about the Down syndrome population besides its numbers, and we therefore recommend further study of this population in more detail to learn how to keep this population healthy with a good quality of life.
Morad
Mohammed
M
Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva.
Kandel
Isack
I
Merrick-Kenig
Efrat
E
Merrick
Joav
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D016352:Group Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires