National survey 2001 on medical services for persons with intellectual disability in residential care in Israel

In Israel, the Office of the Medical Director of the Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for the medical service in residential-care centers for persons with intellectual disability (ID). Because of a lack of data on medical services for people with ID, a questionnaire was developed in 1997-1998 and the first national survey study conducted in 1998. This present paper presents the findings of the fourth national survey in 2001, for which the following information was gathered via questionnaires: information on the age, gender, and level of intellectual disability of persons served at the residential care center in question, status of the population served, profile, nursing, medical, and allied professional staff, number of annual examinations, preventive medicine aspects, medications, number of annual cases of infectious disease, annual unintentional injury, number of deaths, number of hospitalizations, internal residential center hospitalization, ambulatory out-patient use, use of outside laboratory examinations and dental care. In 2001, 6,370 persons were served in nine government, 33 private and 12 public centers. The average number of persons per center was 117.96 (range 25 to 398). Of the patient population, 78% were between 20 and 60 years old, 52% had severe or profound intellectual disability, and 40% moderate disability. 25% were nursing patients, 19% were confined to a wheelchair, 30% suffered from epilepsy. Of the total population, 78% were receiving medication daily for chronic illness and 51% received psychotropic medication.