Mortality and the acquisition of basic skills by children and adults with severe disabilities
R. K. Eyman, C. E. Olmstead, H. J. Grossman and T. L. Call
University of California, Riverside, Pomona 92521-0128.
OBJECTIVE--To determine normative data on age-related probabilities of
children with severe disabilities acquiring mobility or self-feeding
skills, or dying during a 5-year follow-up period. RESEARCH DESIGN--A
5-year follow-up study of three mutually exclusive subgroups formed on the
basis of severe, profound, or suspected levels of retardation and
incontinence and the following combinations of feeding and mobility skills.
PARTICIPANTS--The sample was made up of 7836 children and adults
distributed among the three subgroups being served in California between
January 1981 and December 1985. MEASUREMENTS/MAIN RESULTS--Subjects who
were tube-fed and immobile showed very little likelihood of becoming mobile
or feeding themselves and had a high probability of death. Individuals who
had some mobility experienced a better outcome. CONCLUSIONS--After age 6
years, the most probable outcome for children who are immobile and cannot
feed themselves is death or no improvement in self-help skills.
