title: Morbidity and mortality of women and men with intellectual and developmental disabilities newly initiating antipsychotic drugs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While up to 45% of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have a comorbid psychiatric disorder, and antipsychotics are commonly prescribed, gender differences in the safety of antipsychotics have rarely been studied in this population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare men and women with IDD on medical outcomes after antipsychotic initiation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our population-based study in Ontario, Canada, compared 1457 women and 1951 men with IDD newly initiating antipsychotic medication on risk for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, stroke and death, with up to 4 years of follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women were older and more medically complex at baseline. Women had higher risks for venous thromboembolism (HR 1.72, 95% CI 1.15-2.59) and death (HR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02-2.10) in crude analyses; but only thromboembolism risk was greater for women after covariate adjustment (aHR 1.58, 95% CI 1.05-2.38).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gender should be considered in decision-making around antipsychotic medications for individuals with IDD.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  None.
  © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.
authors.affiliation: , MD, MSc, Women,s Mental Health Program, Women,s College Hospital and Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Simone N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Vigod
authors.affiliation: , PhD, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Yona
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lunsky
authors.affiliation: , PhD, The School of Psychology & Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cobigo
authors.affiliation: , MSc, The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Wilton
authors.affiliation: , MSW, Women,s Mental Health Program, Women,s College Hospital and Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Somerton
authors.affiliation: , MD, Department of Psychiatry, Queen,s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Dallas P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Seitz