Landes Speaks with Academic Minute About the COVID-19 Burden on People with Disabilities

January 4, 2023

Academic Minute

Scott D. Landes

Sociology Department

Aging Studies Institute

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

Civil Rights

COVID-19

IDD

Physical Ability

United States

Academic Minute

Scott D. Landes

The COVID-19 pandemic has not affected everyone equally. Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology and O'Hanley Faculty Scholar, has spent the past two years focused on COVID-19 outcomes among people with intellectual and developmental disability.

He and his co-authors found COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among those with intellectual disability, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. In addition, compared to people without an intellectual or developmental disability, the rate of death from COVID-19 as opposed to all other causes of death was 1.6 times higher for people with intellectual disability, 1.5 times higher for people with cerebral palsy and 2.1 times higher for people with Down syndrome.

Listen the full interview, "The COVID-19 Burden Has Been Greater Among People With Intellectual and Developmental Disability," via Academic Minute.