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ABSTRACT
Background
Having an intellectual disability increases the likelihood for exhibiting impairments in vision, hearing, and balance. The intersection of these issues has yet to be described in a large cohort.
Methods
By hosting the largest public health database for individuals with intellectual disability, Special Olympics (SO) offers ∼120,000 assessments completed at competitions between 2007 and 2018.
Results
Of SO athletes assessed for vision (N = 52,521), hearing (N = 35,073), and balance (N = 31,446), 74%, 28%, and 51% demonstrated a deficit, respectively. Thirteen percent of athletes presenting to three assessments (N = 7,887) showed concurrent impairments.
Conclusions
The high prevalence of sensory and balance impairments at younger ages (M = 28.8, SD = 14.15) compared to the general population highlights disparities faced by the intellectual disability community and should guide public health policy for improved screening and counselling.
Acknowledgements
Select data from this manuscript were presented as posters at the 2021 Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting and 2021 American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology Annual Meeting. Healthy Athletes data collection was supported by cooperative agreement #5U59DD000995 from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a grant from the Golisano Foundation, USA, and Lions Club International. The Institutional Review Board at Temple University offered an exemption for analysis of de-identified longitudinal data from Special Olympics International. We wish to thank Special Olympics International, the Opening Eyes, Healthy Hearing, and FUNfitness teams for their support, and would also like to thank all Special Olympics athletes for their participation.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
Raw data were generated at Special Olympics International. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [ENJ] on request.