The self-rated health of British adults with intellectual disability

•British adults with intellectual disability have significantly poorer self-rated health than their peers without intellectual disability.•They are also significantly more likely to be exposed to socio-economic disadvantage, discrimination and violence.•These factors account for over 50% of the risk for poorer self-rated health among adults with intellectual disability.

People with intellectual disability have significantly higher age-adjusted rates of mortality and morbidity than their non-disabled peers. While self-rated health status is commonly used as an indicator of the health status of populations of interest, few studies have explored the self-rated health of adults with intellectual disability. We undertook secondary analysis of de-identified cross-sectional data from the first waves of two contemporary UK surveys: the Life Opportunities Survey (n = 37,513) and Understanding Society (n = 50,976). In the Life Opportunities Survey we identified 316 participants age 16–49 (1.7% of the age-restricted sample) as having intellectual disability. In Understanding Society we identified 415 participants age 16–49 (1.5% of the age-restricted sample) as having intellectual disability. Participants with intellectual disability were significantly more likely to report having fair or worse health than their peers (Life Opportunities Survey OR = 8.86 (6.54–12.01), p < 0.001; Understanding Society OR = 13.14 (10.65–16.21), p < 0.001). However the strength of this association was significantly attenuated when risk estimates were adjusted to take account of the increased rates of exposure of participants with intellectual disability to socio-economic disadvantage and (in the Life Opportunities Survey) exposure to discrimination and violence.