PART 3: CHILDREN'S OUTCOMES - HEALTH

Disability

People with disabilities face barriers in their participation as equal members of society and are at greater risk of violence, injury and abuse. 33

Intellectual disability

Measure

The number and percentage of children under 18 registered as having an intellectual disability.

Key findings

  • In 2007, the number of children aged under 18 registered as having an intellectual disability was 7,802. (see Figure 20).

Figure 20: Number of children registered as having an intellectual disability (2003-2007)

fig20

Source:National Intellectual Disability Database, Health Research Board

Differences by severity of disability, age and gender

  • In 2007, 36.8% (2,870) of those registered on the National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD) were identified as having a mild disability; 27.4% (2,134) as having a moderate disability; 9.5% (740) as having a severe disability; and 1.9% (147) as having a profound disability. The remaining 24.5% (1,911) were not verified (i.e. they did not have their level of intellectual disability confirmed) (see Figure 21).

Figure 21: Percentage of children registered as having an intellectual disability, by severity of disability (2007)

fig21

Source: National Intellectual Disability Database, Health Research Board

  • The number and rate of children registered as having an intellectual disability increases by age group (see Table 53). In 2007, the rate of children registered as having an intellectual disability was 34.3 per 10,000 children aged 0-4 and this increased to 100.7 per 10,000 children aged 15-17.
  • In 2007, 13.7% (1,071) of those registered on the NIDD were aged 0-4; 31.6% (2,468) were aged 5-9; 32.3% (2,519) were aged 10-14; and 22.4% (1,744) were aged 15-17.

Table 53: Number and rate (per 10,000) of children registered as having an intellectual disability, by age (2007)

Age Not verified Mild Moderate Severe Profound No. Rate
0-4 years 904 73 69 19 6 1,071 34.3
5-9 years 802 751 605 260 50 2,468 83.4
10-14 years 151 1,113 895 304 56 2,519 91.4
15-17 years 54 933 565 157 35 1,744 100.7
Total 1,911 2,870 2,134 740 147 7,802 73.8

Source: National Intellectual Disability Database, Health Research Board

  • In 2007, the rate of children registered as having an intellectual disability varied according to gender, with 90.5 per 10,000 boys compared to 56.3 per 10,000 girls registered as having an intellectual disability (see Table 54).
  • Overall, 62.8% (4,898) of children registered on the NIDD were boys. The only category of intellectual disability in which more girls than boys were registered was in the 'profound' category.

Table 54: Number and rate (per 10,000) of children registered as having an intellectual disability, by gender (2007)

  Not verified Mild Moderate Severe Profound No. Rate
Boys 1,242 1,819 1,332 436 69 4,898 90.5
Girls 669 1,051 802 304 78 2,904 56.3
Total 1,911 2,870 2,134 740 147 7,802 73.8

Source: National Intellectual Disability Database, Health Research Board

Differences by geographic location

  • In 2007, 24.1% (1,884) of children registered as having an intellectual disability resided in Dublin, 10.5% (823) in Cork and 6.9% (537) in Galway (see Table 55).
  • There has been an increase in the number of children registered as having an intellectual disability since 2005, when the total number registered was 7,385. This increase, however, has not been consistent across all counties.

Table 55: Number of children registered as having an intellectual disability, by county (2003-2007)

County 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
  No. No. No. No. No. %
Carlow 136 142 143 148 148 1.9
Cavan 95 87 93 86 96 1.2
Clare 224 208 186 163 161 2.1
Cork 780 801 785 810 823 10.5
Donegal 284 254 261 251 261 3.3
Dublin 1,698 1,758 1,675 1,867 1,884 24.1
Galway 524 529 531 511 537 6.9
Kerry 280 287 303 302 291 3.7
Kildare 278 292 285 344 372 4.8
Kilkenny 186 166 154 153 166 2.1
Laois 135 138 139 145 133 1.7
Leitrim 57 63 66 73 82 1.1
Limerick 362 360 334 304 280 3.6
Longford 37 44 45 53 57 0.7
Louth 222 225 219 230 237 3
Mayo 232 229 238 247 259 3.3
Meath 229 234 226 213 210 2.7
Monaghan 74 74 78 77 75 1
Offaly 113 109 125 122 119 1.5
Other (incl. NI) <5 <5 9 10 8 0.1
Roscommon 125 137 144 148 154 2
Sligo 150 155 138 127 140 1.8
Tipperary NR 115 119 112 104 101 1.3
Tipperary SR 215 196 207 219 245 3.1
Waterford 193 179 177 154 150 1.9
Westmeath 135 152 161 182 201 2.6
Wexford 267 276 279 286 291 3.7
Wicklow 215 286 272 329 321 4.1
State 7,365 7,504 7,385 7,658 7,802 100.0

Source: National Intellectual Disability Database, Health Research Board

Physical and/or sensory disability

Measure

The number and percentage of children under 18 registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability.

Key findings

  • In 2007, the number of children registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability was 8,373 (see Table 56).

Table 56: Number ofchildren registered as having a physical or sensory disability,
by gender and age (2007)

  Boys Girls 0-4 years 5-9 years 10-14 years 15-17 years Total
No.		 Total
%
Physical 3,398 2,065 329 1,821 2,297 1,016 5,463 65.2
Hearing loss/deafness 213 212 18 99 182 126 425 5.1
Visual 113 120 19 60 83 71 233 2.8
Physical and hearing loss/deafness 107 59 11 63 63 29 166 2.0
Physical and visual 97 73 21 55 52 42 170 2.0
Hearing loss/deafness and visual 5 12 0 4 9 4 17 0.2
Physical, hearing loss/
deafness and visual		 21 19 0 16 19 5 40 0.5
'Primary Speech and Language' 794 327 147 638 289 47 1121 13.4
'Physical and Primary Speech and Language' 288 167 87 184 137 47 455 5.4
'Hearing and Primary Speech and Language' 65 46 23 54 24 10 111 1.3
'Visual and Primary Speech and Language' 14 8 2 16 4 0 22 0.3
'Physical and Hearing and Primary Speech and Language' 52 23 14 41 16 4 75 0.9  
'Physical and Visual and Primary Speech and Language' 34 16 19 17 10 4 50 0.6  
'Hearing and Visual and Primary Speech and Language' 3 5 2 4 2 0 8 0.1  
'Physical and Hearing and Visual & Primary Speech and Language' 9 7 5 8 2 1 16 0.2  
Refused 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0.0
Total 5,213 3,160 697 3,081 3,189 1,406 8,373 100.0

Source: National Physical and Sensory Disability Database, Health Research Board

Differences by severity of disability, age and gender

  • In 2007, 62.3% (5,213) of children under 18 registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability were boys and 37.7% (3,160) were girls (see Table 56).
  • In 2007, 8.3% (697) of children under 18 registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability were 0-4 years; 36.8% (3,081) were aged 5-9; 38.1% (3,189) were aged 10-14; and 16.8% (1,406) were aged 15-17.
  • In 2007, 65.2% (5,463) of children registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability were registered as having a 'physical' disability.

Differences by geographic location

  • In 2007, 18.5% (1,546) of children registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability resided in the Cork area (Cork County and Cork Co. Borough); 17.2% (1,438) in the Dublin area (incorporating South Dublin, Dublin County Borough, Dun-Laoghaire/Rathdown and Fingal); and 7.9% (665) in the Galway area (Galway County and Galway Co. Borough) (see Table 57).
  • The number of children under 18 registered as having a physical and/or sensory disability has increased from 6,412 in 2004 to 8,373 in 2007.

Table 57: Number of children registered as having a physical or
sensory disability, by county (2004-2007)

County 2004 2005 2006 2007
  No. % No. % No. % No. %
Cork County 886 13.8 1,002 14.2 1,101 14.1 1,068 12.8
South Dublin 534 8.3 604 8.6 663 8.5 656 7.8
Galway County 263 4.1 361 5.1 358 4.6 536 6.4
Dublin Co. Borough 277 4.3 310 4.4 461 5.9 477 5.7
Cork Co. Borough 359 5.6 436 6.2 495 6.3 478 5.7
Mayo 371 5.8 418 5.9 402 5.1 478 5.7
Kildare 310 4.8 356 5.1 364 4.7 355 4.2
Kerry 268 4.2 325 4.6 322 4.1 322 3.8
Wicklow 23 0.4 26 0.4 243 3.1 304 3.6
Westmeath 188 2.9 202 2.9 253 3.2 274 3.3
Kilkenny 226 3.5 214 3 230 2.9 267 3.2
Clare 190 3 232 3.3 231 3 227 2.7
Limerick County 193 3 199 2.8 207 2.7 218 2.6
Donegal 248 3.9 234 3.3 218 2.8 220 2.6
Meath 236 3.7 229 3.3 214 2.7 199 2.4
Carlow 81 1 78 1 96 1.2 188 2.2
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown <5 0.1 <5 0.1 97 1.2 182 2.2
Wexford 218 3.4 204 2.9 194 2.5 179 2.1
Louth 206 3.2 196 2.8 176 2.3 169 2
Roscommon 109 1.7 126 1.8 130 1.7 160 1.9
Tipperary SR 130 2 127 1.8 127 1.6 150 1.8
Offaly 156 2.4 151 2.1 160 2 140 1.7
Laois 141 2.2 152 2.2 146 1.9 138 1.6
Fingal <5 <1.0 <5 <1.0 115 1.5 123 1.5
Galway Co. Borough (Galway City) 79 1.2 99 1.4 95 1.2 129 1.5
Tipperary NR 87 1.4 104 1.5 101 1.3 109 1.3
Longford 71 1.1 70 1 76 1 94 1.1
Sligo 98 1.5 94 1.3 84 1.1 89 1.1
Cavan 79 1.2 101 1.4 92 1.2 89 1.1
Limerick Co. Borough (Limerick City) 83 1.3 92 1.3 86 1.1 87 1
Waterford County 100 2 96 1 90 1 86 1
Monaghan 74 1.2 85 1.2 82 1 77 0.9
Waterford Co. Borough (Waterford City) 79 1.2 70 1 67 0.9 65 0.8
Leitrim 42 0.7 39 0.6 35 0.4 40 0.5
Total 6,412 100.0 7,039 100.0 7,811 100.0 8,373 100.0

Source: National Physical and Sensory Disability Database, Health Research Board

Technical notes
The National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD) was established in 1995 to provide a comprehensive and accurate information base for decision-making in relation to the planning, funding and management of services for people with an intellectual disability. Currently, there is approximately 95% coverage on the NIDD database.

The National Physical and Sensory Disability Database (NPSDD) was piloted in 2000/2001 and national implementation began in 2002 to provide a comprehensive and accurate information base for decision-making in relation to the planning, funding and management of services for people with a physical and/or sensory disability. Currently, there is approximately 65% coverage on the NPSDD database.

Participation in these databases is voluntary and only includes those in receipt of, or requiring, specialised disability services; therefore, they may not include all people living in Ireland who have a physical and/or sensory disability or an intellectual disability.

In general, where people with profound, severe or moderate intellectual disabilities also have physical or sensory disabilities, they are more appropriately registered on the NIDD and consequently are not included on the NPSDD. If a case is not as clear-cut as this, or a person has dual disability, the case is recorded and made known to the Disability Database Manager in the HSE.

Next

33 CUN (2006) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Geneva: United Nations.