A Call for Inclusion: Children With Intellectual Disabilities in Trauma Treatment Research.
Zackary F Moore, Anna W Wright, Carine E Leslie and 3 others
PMID 40771105WHAT IT FOUND
Children with intellectual disabilities were explicitly excluded from 61% of randomized trials testing PTSD treatments.
Most studies did not report how many were screened out or why, leaving a large gap in evidence for treating trauma in this vulnerable population.
Key findings
01Based on reported criteria, children with intellectual disabilities or related conditions were excluded from 61.3% of the reviewed PTSD trials.
02Only a minority of studies that excluded these children reported the specific number or reasons for exclusion, with most providing no documentation.
03Authors surveyed retrospectively indicated that children with mild intellectual disabilities were often eligible, but those with moderate or severe disabilities were generally considered ineligible.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The review only included studies from a 2019 meta-analysis, so it does not reflect any changes in inclusion practices in trials published since then. It excluded case studies, feasibility studies, and single-arm trials, which may be the primary source of evidence for treating children with severe disabilities. Authors could not verify the actual number of children with ID who were screened out in most studies because this data was rarely reported. The survey asked authors to recall eligibility retrospectively, which may not reflect the strict criteria applied at the time of the original study.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that children with intellectual disabilities cannot benefit from PTSD treatment. The exclusion of this group from trials reflects research design choices and reporting gaps, not evidence that treatment is ineffective or impossible. Adapted protocols exist and are supported by separate, smaller studies.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →