Objectives: Few national surveys have been conducted on the health and nutrition of disabled people in Japan, and as a result, the actual health and nutritional status of this population group has not been clarified. The aim of the present study is to clarify the following hypotheses: nutritional assessment is not carried out at institutions and schools for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or motor disabilities (MD), and there are marked differences in implementation rates and assessment methods (i) between institutions and schools and (ii) among the disability categories.
Methods: Questionnaires were sent to 1,080 selected institutions and schools for individuals with ID and/or MD. For each disability category, the implementation rate of blood and urine tests (14 items) was calculated separately for the institutions and schools.
Results: A total of 826 responses were obtained (response rate: 76.5%); of these, 822 were valid. For all investigated items, implementation rate was significantly higher for the institutions (0-90.3%) when compared to the schools (0-10.2%). The implementation rate of 13 items at institutions for patients with severe intellectual and motor disabilities (4.8-90.3%) was higher than that for institutions for those with intellectual disabilities (0.4-57.0%) or institutions for those with motor disabilities (0-80.0%). The implementation rate of creatinine urinary excretion/24 h and creatinine height index was lower than that for other examinations.
Conclusions: Large differences in implementation rates were apparent between the institutions and schools. The implementation rate of blood and urine laboratory examinations varied considerably among the disability categories.