Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities, Experimental Statistics 2021 to 2022

The percentage of patients with a learning disability who also have a diagnosis of ADHD is significantly greater than the percentage of the population who have a diagnosis of ADHD but do not have a learning disability.

The percentage of patients with a learning disability, who also have a diagnosis of ADHD has risen steadily between 2017-18 (5.5%) and 2021-22 (8.0%), whilst the proportion without a learning disability who have a diagnosis of ADHD rose by 0.3 percentage points (0.5% to 0.8%).

This is a new indicator introduced in 2021-22. The percentage of patients with a learning disability who have a diagnosis of ADHD and a diagnosis of autism was 4.8% compared to 0.1% for those without a learning disability (a difference of 4.6 percentage points).

Each year between 2017-18 and 2021-22, the proportion of patients who have a diagnosis of ADHD and are currently treated with melatonin has been significantly greater amongst patients with a learning disability than amongst patients who do not have a learning disability.

The percentage of patients with a learning disability who have also been diagnosed with ADHD and are currently treated with melatonin rose to 14.8% in 2021-22. The percentage of patients without a learning disability who have a diagnosis of ADHD and are currently treated with melatonin in 2021-22 remained the same as in 2020-21 (8.4%).

The percentage of patients with a learning disability who have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently prescribed epilepsy drugs is significantly greater than the percentage of patients without a learning disability who have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently prescribed epilepsy drugs for each year between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Although the percentage of patients with a learning disability who have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently prescribed epilepsy drugs has fallen steadily between 2017-18 (17.0%) and 2021-22 (16.5%), this has remained stable at 0.6% in those without a learning disability who have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently prescribed epilepsy drugs.

Amongst patients with autism, the proportion of patients with a learning disability who have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently prescribed epilepsy drugs (14.1%) is significantly greater than the proportion of patients who do not have a learning disability who have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently prescribed epilepsy drugs (1.7%).