Health disparities and intellectual disabilities: lessons from individuals with Down syndrome

Individuals with intellectual disabilities experience health disparities and disparities in accessing health care services compared to individuals within the general population. In order to eliminate these disparities the contributors to them must be understood. In this article, we aim to describe a recent reconceptualization of health and disability (Krahn, et al. [2006] Mental. Retard. Dev. Disabilities Res. Rev. 12:70-82) to further understand the health disparities between individuals with Down syndrome, the most common identified cause of intellectual disability in the United States, and the general population. We also detail known health disparities between individuals with Down syndrome of different races and discuss the possible reasons for these disparities, as well as potential actions to address them.