Adults with learning difficulties were NINE TIMES more likely to die of Covid during the first wave of the pandemic, study finds

 Adults with mental disorders and intellectual disabilities are more likely to die of COVID-19 than the general population during the first wave of the pandemic, a new study finds.

Researchers from King's College London in the UK looked at data of more than 160,000 deaths in the UK between March 2020 and June 2020.

They found that adults with learning difficulties were nine times more likely to have a virus-related deaths.

What's more, people with autism were five times more likely to die of Covid than the general population and those with schizophrenia were three times more likely.

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A new study found that people with learning disabilities were 9.24 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the general population (above)

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Those with autism spectrum disorders (above) were five times more likely to die of the virus and schizophrenia were 3.2 times more likely

'It was a substantial increase,' lead study Dr Jayati Das-Munshi, a senior lecturer in social epidemiology with King's College London, told CNN. 

'We weren't expecting this mortality gap to improve, definitely not, but I think the extent to which it did get worse was quite shocking actually.'

Previous studies have suggested that disabled people are at an increased risk of death from COVID-19 

A report from Public Health England found that people with learning disabilities are up to 30 times more likely to die of coronavirus.

Another study from Syracuse University in New York, patients with Down syndrome are three times more likely to contract the virus than those with other disorder.

Experts have suggested this may be because people with mental disorders and intellectual disabilities are at higher risk for other underlying conditions that they make them more likely to contract Covid.

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People with mental disorders and intellectual disabilities are at higher risk for other underlying conditions that they make them more likely to contract Covid

Another theory is that disabled people tend to live in care homes and assisted living facilities, which have an increased risk of death.

For the study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, the team looked at 167,122 deaths from a mental healthcare provider in London in 2019 and 2020.

They looked at mortality rates across nine psychiatric conditions: schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, affective disorders, somatoform/neurotic disorders, personality disorders, learning disabilities, eating disorders, substance use disorders, pervasive developmental disorders and dementia.

Researchers found that, during the first wave of the pandemic, people with learning disabilities were 9.24 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the general population. 

Those with autism spectrum disorders were five times more likely to succumb to the virus and those with eating disorders were 4.8 times more likely.

Additionally, people with dementia were 3.8 times more likely to die of Covid and those with schizophrenia were 3.2 times more likely.

Das-Munshi told CNN that two-thirds of deaths among people with mental health disorders and other disabilities are cases by underlying conditions, which puts them at greater risk of COVID-19.  

'It comes back to this issue that we really do need to be thinking about enhancing access to preventative health interventions,' she said.

'That could be anything from cancer screening to managing cardiovascular disease, offering smoking cessation, offering vaccination, encouraging people to take up offers of vaccination, that sort of thing.'