Available online 13 April 2023, 101478

Author links open overlay panel, , , AbstractBackground

There is evidence that female youth with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) experience poorer gynecological care compared to female youth without disabilities.

Objective

The objective of this study was to obtain baseline data on visits to a health care provider for a gynecological issue for females with IDD and compare that information to the experiences of female youth without IDD.

Methods

This study is a retrospective cohort study using population-level administrative health data from 2010 to 2019 for females aged 15-24 years, with and without IDD.

Results

6,452 female youth with IDD and 637,627 female youth without IDD were identified in the data. Over the ten year period, 53.77% of youth with IDD and 53.68% of youth without IDD had a visit to a physician for a gynecological issue. However, as females with IDD aged, the number of people seeing a physician for a gynecological issue decreased. In the group aged 20-24 years, 15.25% of females with IDD and 24.47% of females without IDD (p<0.0001) had a Pap test done at any time; 25.94% of females with IDD had a visit for contraception management and 28.38% of females (p<0.0001) without IDD had a visit for contraception management. Gynecological care also varied by type of IDD.

Conclusions

Females with IDD had a similar number of visits for a gynecological issue as female youth without IDD. However, the reasons for visits and the age at which visits occurred differed between youth with and without IDD. As females with IDD transition into adulthood gynecological care must be maintained and improved.

Section snippetsFunding:

Sandra Marquis was funded for this study by Michael Smith Health Research BC

Disclaimer:

Access to data provided by the Data Steward(s) is subject to approval, but can be requested for research projects through the Data Steward(s) or their designated service providers. All inferences, opinions, and conclusions drawn in this publication are those of the author(s), and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the Data Steward(s).

Methods

The study is a retrospective cohort study using population level administrative health data from the province of B.C., Canada. In 2019, B.C. had a total population of 5,094,796 people; of those 619,163 were youth aged 15-24 years. The population used in this study was all female youth aged 15 to 24 years old recorded in the administrative health data over the time period of 2010-2019. The study population was female youth diagnosed with an IDD. The comparison cohort was all other female youth

Results

Descriptive statistics can be found in Table 1. Using all 10 years of data, a total of 6,452 female youth with IDD and 637,627 female youth without IDD were identified in the linked data. Female youth with IDD represented 1.00% of the population of female youth aged 15-24 in B.C. in the years 2010-2019. At any time during the 10 year period 43.20% of the IDD group received an MSP subsidy compared to 25.43% of the comparison cohort. There were also a greater number of people with IDD in

Discussion

Youth with IDD on average experience menarche at the same age as non-disabled females.1. Females with IDD also experience the same menstrual-related issues as non-disabled females.1 There is evidence that females with IDD experience a higher prevalence of menstrual abnormalities including dysmenorrhea, heavy menstrual bleeding, irregular menstrual bleeding and amenorrhea.33 However, the literature reviewed in this study indicates that female youth with an IDD receive less gynecological care

Conclusion

Evidence from this study indicates that relative to females without IDD, female youth in BC who have IDD receive fewer gynecology-related services as they age. This decrease occurs as youth transition from adolescence to early adulthood. In addition, there are differences in gynecological care depending upon IDD type. Physicians in B.C. should ensure that females with all types of IDD receive appropriate gynecological care throughout their lifespans including access to birth control and Pap

Uncited References

36; 37.

Conflicts of Interest:

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

The authors have no competing interests to declare

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