As the life expectancy for individuals with Down syndrome has sharply risen due to advances in medical technology and care over the last few decades, health care providers have begun encountering more progressive disease states in adult patients.
In the latest issue of Advocate Aurora Health’s Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews (JPCRR), researchers compared the prevalence of various comorbidities identified in a large cohort of individuals with Down syndrome to an age- and sex-matched cohort without Down syndrome. Some conditions were more prevalent in Down syndrome, while others were less common. As individuals with Down syndrome grow older, it is important to consider chronic conditions that may develop when devising individual care plans.
“Care for individuals with Down syndrome should not automatically mirror screening, prevention or treatment guidelines for the general U.S. population,” noted Brian Chicoine, MD, family medicine physician and lead author of the study. “Rather, it should reflect the unique needs and common comorbidities of this patient population.”
Clinicians should educate themselves about the frequency of these comorbidities and how each may affect their patients with Down syndrome. Of note, readers of this article may receive 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 continuing medical education credit by passing a quiz on the study’s findings, available here.
Additional articles published in Volume 8, Issue 2 investigate: the value of patient-reported outcomes for chronic knee conditions; perioperative family updates to reduce anxiety; medication management in the elderly; managing blood product supply in developing countries; heart-healthy nutritional counseling for Chinese Americans; mental health challenges among female military officers; innovative care delivery addressing racial disparities in maternal mortality; the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in health care staff; and preprocedure COVID-19 testing of patients early in the pandemic.
In addition to Dr. Chicoine, Advocate Aurora authors featured in this issue include physicians Renuka Jain, MD, Bijoy Khandheria, MD, Robert Citronberg, MD, and Dennis Baumgardner, MD; administrator Bradley Kruger; echocardiographer Denise Ignatowski; biostatistician Ana Cristina Perez Moreno, MD, PhD; and researchers Anne Rivelli, MPH, Veronica Fitzpatrick, DrPH, Laura Chicoine and Stacie Kroboth.
Visit aah.org/jpcrr to access all journal content. Follow @JPCRR on Twitter for regular publication updates and various patient-centered news.
Published by Advocate Aurora Health, the Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews is a PubMed-indexed medical journal dedicated to scholarly works that aim to improve patient-centered care practices, health outcomes and patient experiences. JPCRR articles have been downloaded by readers in more than 200 countries.
To learn more about Advocate Aurora’s research, visit aurora.org/research.
About Advocate Aurora Research Institute
Advocate Aurora Research Institute is a not-for-profit, limited liability company of Advocate Aurora Health. Advocate Aurora has emerged as a national destination for patient-centered bench, translational and clinical research, and the Research Institute unifies the innovative research efforts throughout the health system. Advocate Aurora researchers focus on rapidly translating new discoveries from the scientist’s bench to the patient’s bedside and into the community we serve to improve options and outcomes that change not only the lives of individuals, but transform the health of populations.