Researchers from Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate have found that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to die from COVID-19.

A study examined more than 30,000 people, all of whom had the coronavirus.


What You Need To Know


  • People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to die from COVID-19 than those without

  • COVID-19 infects more young people with IDD than those without

  • The higher death rates are likely a result of other health conditions and living in group homes

“The study is important because no one has ever looked at people with disabilities,” said SUNY Upstate Distinguished Service Professor Dr. Margaret Turk.

In effort to understand how COVID-19 is impacting vulnerable populations. Dr. Turk led research of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

“People with intellectual and developments disabilities have life-long disabilities. They include problems in the area of in learning, communication and language, and behavior,” said Dr. Turk.

Her team of researchers used data from a national network of health organizations and hospitals called TriNetX.

In addition to learning that people with IDD are more likely to die from COVID-19, they found it’s infecting more younger people, too.

“People with IDD have a shortened life expectancy. It’s longer than it used to be, but they do die earlier than age-matched peers,” said Dr. Turk.

The higher death rates among people with IDD is likely a result of other health conditions and living in group home facilities. Dr. Turk says these findings help to understand ways of prevention.

“We also need to spend a little bit more time in talking with people with disabilities. People with IDD may need to have instructions repeated a number of times or identified in different ways,” said Dr. Turk.

Researchers also found those with IDD are also more likely to have cardiovascular, respiratory, and hormonal gland diseases.