Participation in daytime activities among people with mild or moderate intellectual disability

Community participation has been defined as performing daytime activities by people while interacting with others. Previous studies on community participation among people with intellectual disability (ID) have mainly focused on the domestic life aspect. This study investigates the variation in community participation in the domains work, social contacts and leisure activities among people with ID in the Netherlands. A number of categories of people with ID were distinguished by: (1) gender; (2) age; (3) type of education; (4) severity of ID; and (5) accommodation type.

Data were gathered on 653 people with mild or moderate ID, of whom 513 by oral interviews and 140 by structured questionnaires filled in by representatives of those who could not be interviewed. Pearson chi-square tests were used to test differences between categories of people with ID in the distributions of the participation variables. Additional logistic regression analyses were conducted to correct for differences between the categories in other variables.

Most people with mild or moderate ID in the Netherlands have work or other daytime activities, have social contacts and have leisure activities. However, people aged 50 years and over and people with moderate ID participate less in these domains than those under 50 years and people with mild ID. Moreover, people with ID hardly participate in activities with people without ID.

High participation among people with a mild or moderate ID within the domains of work, social contact and leisure activities does not necessarily indicate a high level of interaction with the community, because the majority hardly interact with people without ID. Furthermore, older people with ID and people with a more severe level of ID seem to be more at risk for social exclusion.