Screening for learning disability in primary care: an examination of feasibility against the Wilson-Jungner criteria
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Screening for learning disability in primary care: an examination of feasibility against the Wilson-Jungner criteria

Karen McKenzie Professor of psychology/clinical psychologist, Department of psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Kara Murray Community mental health nurse, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, Scotland

Why you should read this article:
  • To appreciate the need for timely identification of learning disability to address health inequities

  • To be aware of screening tools for identification of learning disability in primary care

  • To read about the feasibility of using screening tools to support identification of learning disability

People with learning disabilities face major health inequities and reducing these requires the learning disability to be recognised in the first place. There are screening tools designed to support primary care professionals to identify who, from among their patients, is likely to have a learning disability. These individuals can then undergo a full assessment and, if needed, receive support and interventions such as annual health checks. One question that arises is whether routine screening for learning disability in primary care is feasible. In this article, the authors examine the feasibility of routine screening for learning disability in primary care against the Wilson-Jungner criteria, which are the gold standard for appraising screening programmes.

Learning Disability Practice. 26, 2, 26-32. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2022.e2205

Correspondence

k.mckenzie@northumbria.ac.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

The first author is a codeveloper of two of the screening questionnaires discussed in this article and receives a small income from their use. The first and second authors are related

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