Global Down Syndrome Foundation Medical Care Guidelines for Adults With Down Syndrome
Global Down Syndrome Foundation Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome Workgroup. (2020).
Denver (CO): Global Down Syndrome Foundation, 1-92.
This clinical practice guideline provides recommendations for healthcare management regarding adults with Down syndrome (DS). The intended audiences for this guideline are community-based primary health care providers who provide direct care to adults and other critical stakeholder groups including adults with DS, their carepartners, and advocacy groups.
Global Down Syndrome Foundation
“When concern for a mental health disorder in adults with Down syndrome is present, medical professionals should refer the patient to a clinician knowledgeable about the medical, mental health disorders, and common behavioral characteristics of adults with Down syndrome” (p. 16; Weak For).
“Medical professionals should assess adults with Down syndrome and interview primary caregivers about changes from baseline function annually, beginning at age 40 years. Decline in 6 domains specified by the National Task Group–Early Detection Screen for Dementia (NTG-EDSD)39 should be used to identify early-stage age related Alzheimer-type dementia and/or a potentially reversible medical condition: cognition, memory, and executive functioning, behavior and personality, communication, adaptive functioning, ambulation and motor skills, and general decline in established skills” (p. 16; Strong For).
“A review of behavioral, functional, adaptive, and psychosocial factors should be performed as part of an annual history that clinicians obtain from all adults with Down syndrome, their families, and caregivers” (p. 18; Good Practice)
