The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48851

Rebecca Burke, MS, Rural Institute on Disabilities, 52 Corbin Hall, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, (406)243-5743, rburke@selway.umt.edu

Designing programs to prevent and manage secondary conditions requires an understanding of the experience of limitation across impairment groups. A between-and within groups comparison of secondary conditions reported by adults with Cerebral Palsy and those reported by adults with other Developmental Disabilities or physical impairments will be discussed. The United Cerebral Palsy Association estimates that 500,000 children and adults in the United States are living with Cerebral Palsy. Of those with Cerebral Palsy, an estimated 50% also have cognitive impairments. In surveys of over 1500 Montanans with Developmental Disabilities or physical impairments, the majority of the top twenty secondary conditions listed as most limiting to respondents were due to lifestyle and wellness issues. Secondary conditions are of particular concern in minority groups where rates of limitation tend to be higher than in non-minority groups . In Healthy People 2010 objectives for reduction of secondary conditions, Native Americans with disabilities tended to report lower satisfaction with life and more limitations to social participation than their white counterparts. Additionally, in a survey of adults served by the Montana’s Developmental Disabilities Program, Native Americans reported having Cerebral Palsy at a greater rate than the general population of the sample. These and other findings will be used to examine personal and environmental factors of ethnicity, age, employment, and living arrangement among different impairment groups with particular focus on implications for adults with Cerebral Palsy.

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