National survey 2008 on medical services for persons with intellectual disability in residential care in Israel

In Israel, the Office of the Medical Director of the Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for the medical service in residential care centers for persons with intellectual disability (ID). A standard annual questionnaire was developed during 1997-1998, and the first national survey study conducted in 1998. This present paper presents the findings of the 11th national survey in 2008, for which the following information was gathered via questionnaires: age, gender, and level of ID of persons served at the residential care center in question, status of the population served, functional profile, nursing, medical, and allied professional staff, number of annual examinations, preventive medicine aspects, medications, number of annual cases of infectious disease, annual unintentional injuries, number of deaths, number of hospitalizations, internal residential center hospitalization, ambulatory out-patient use, use of outside laboratory examinations, and dental care. In 2008, 6988 persons were served in nine government, 41 private, and 13 public centers. The average number of persons served per center was 110.92 (range 16-332). The survey in 2008 showed that 78% of the population with ID in residential care in Israel was between the ages of 20 and 60 years old, 45% with severe or profound ID, 41% with moderate and 14% with mild ID. Twenty-four percent were nursing patients, 19% were confined to a wheelchair, 33% had epilepsy, 87% were found to be receiving medication daily for chronic illness, and 55% received psychotropic medication for psychiatric illness.