Outcomes of In-Patient admissions of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to a specialized unit in Cape Town

Abstract

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often hospitalized for management of challenging behaviour. A recent international trend is the development of specialized units for the containment, assessment and management of such challenging behaviours. A retrospective folder review was undertaken for children admitted to one such unit in Cape Town, South Africa, and the outcomes of these admissions were investigated. The results show that the majority of children admitted to this unit had poor socio-economic circumstances and limited access to community resources. They were admitted for either assessment or respite care. Of those admitted for assessment, improvements were recorded within all behavioural topographies, with the most improvement in destructive behaviours and the least improvement in stereotypy. Improvements were also recorded for basic skills. Neither the presence of autism spectrum disorder, nor pharmacologically controlled epilepsy, had an influence on outcomes. This is a first step towards establishing evidence-based treatment models for this population.