Individuals with Developmental Disabilities may have increased mortality due to multiple causes during youth: JAMA
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that people with cerebral palsy (CP), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or intellectual disability (ID) had greater rates of death from a variety of reasons in their adolescent and early adult years.
To evaluate mortality and causes of death between a multisite cohort of people with ASD, ID, or CP who were diagnosed at age 8 and the general population throughout childhood or young adulthood, this study was carried out.
From 2000 to 2016 a population-based cross-sectional surveillance by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network was carried out. And, 9 US sites found 32,787 people who met case definitions for ASD, ID, and/or CP at age 8. Death certificates were associated with specific people until 2021.
Each case group had cases with multiple conditions (18.9%). ADDM Network locations and years of participation were matched with general population data from the National Vital Statistics System. In 2024, the analyses were finished. The 10th version of the International Classification of Diseases and Death (ICD-10) causes from death certificate linkage in the Tenth Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) system.
There were 145 fatalities among 23 393 people with ASD, 14 031 among those with intellectual impairment (ID), and 123 among those with cerebral palsy (CP). For ASD (HR 1.35), ID (HR 4.35), and CP (HR 9.62), the mortality rate was greater than that of the general population. Only females with co-occurring ID had higher mortality in ASD (HR 5.04).
The reasons of mortality varied by group, with nervous system disorders predominating in ID and CP and external causes being most prevalent in the general population and ASD. There was no increase in external-cause mortality for CP, ID, or ASD. In 49% of CP instances, 11% of ASD cases, and 1% of ID cases, disability was underreported on death certificates. Overall, juvenile and young adult death rates were greater for those with ASD, ID, or CP from a variety of reasons than for the general population.
Source:
Shaw, K. A., McArthur, D., Bilder, D. A., Hughes, M. M., Rose, C. E., Bakian, A. V., Durkin, M. S., Fitzgerald, R. T., Howerton, E. M., Ladd-Acosta, C., Lopez, M., Pas, E. T., Zahorodny, W., DiRienzo, M., Patrick, M. E., Warren, Z., Washington, A., Hudson, A., Pettygrove, S., … Maenner, M. J. (2026). Mortality among youth and young adults with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or cerebral palsy. JAMA Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.6120
