Open Access

Friedrich Dieckmann, Christos Giovis, Jana Offergeld

• Background This study presents age group-specific mortality rates and the average life expectancy of people with intellectual disabilities in Germany. Method For two samples from Westphalia-Lippe and Baden-Wuerttemberg, person-related data for the years 2007–2009 were analysed. Age group-specific mortality rates were estimated by exponential regression analyses. Results The average life expectancy of men with intellectual disabilities was 70.9 years in Westphalia-Lippe and 65.3 years in the Baden-Wuerttemberg sample. Women with intellectual disabilities reached a life expectancy of 72.8 years in the Westphalian sample and 69.9 years in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The mortality tables, the crude mortality rates and the standardized mortality rates according to the WHO standard population are reported. Conclusion Comparing the results with other international studies, the trend of increasing life expectancies of people with intellectual disabilities is confirmed. People with intellectual disabilities still have a lower average life expectancy than the general population, partly due to subgroups with low life expectancies.