Data on clinical characteristics of adults with Down syndrome (DS) are limited and the clinical phenotype of these persons is poorly described. This study aimed to describe the occurrence of chronic diseases and pattern of medication use in a population of adults with DS. Participants were 421 community dwelling adults with DS, aged 18 years or older. Individuals were assessed through a standardized clinical protocol. Multimorbidity was defined as the occurrence of two or more chronic conditions and polypharmacy as the concomitant use of five or more medications. The mean age of study participants was 38.3 ± 12.8 years and 214 (51%) were women. Three hundred and seventy‐four participants (88.8%) presented with multimorbidity. The most prevalent condition was visual impairment (72.9%), followed by thyroid disease (50.1%) and hearing impairment (26.8%). Chronic diseases were more prevalent among participants aged >40 years. The mean number of medications used was 2.09 and polypharmacy was observed in 10.5% of the study sample. Psychotropic medications were used by a mean of 0.7 individuals of the total sample. The high prevalence of multimorbidity and the common use of multiple medications contributes to a high level of clinical complexity, which appears to be similar to the degree of complexity of the older non‐trisomic population. A comprehensive and holistic approach, commonly adopted in geriatric medicine, may provide the most appropriate care to persons with DS as they grow into adulthood.

中文翻译：

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患有唐氏综合症的成年人的慢性病，​​多发病和多药的负担。

有关唐氏综合症（DS）成人临床特征的数据有限，并且这些人的临床表型描述不多。这项研究旨在描述患有DS的成年人群中慢性病的发生和药物使用的方式。参加者为421位18岁或18岁以上的DS社区居民。通过标准化的临床方案对个体进行评估。多发病定义为两种或两种以上慢性病的发生，多药定义为同时使用五种或多种药物。研究参与者的平均年龄为38.3±12.8岁，其中214位女性（51％）是女性。374位参与者（88.8％）出现了多种疾病。最普遍的情况是视力障碍（72.9％），其次是甲状腺疾病（50.1％）和听力障碍（26。8％）。慢性疾病在40岁以上的参与者中更为普遍。使用的平均药物数量为2.09，在研究样本的10.5％中观察到多药房。总样本中平均有0.7个人使用了精神药物。多发病率的高流行和多种药物的普遍使用导致较高的临床复杂性，这似乎与老年人的非三体人群的复杂程度相似。老年医学中普遍采用的一种全面，全面的方法可以为患有DS的人成年后提供最适当的护理。总样本中平均有0.7个人使用了精神药物。多发病率的高流行和多种药物的普遍使用导致较高的临床复杂性，这似乎与老年人的非三体人群的复杂程度相似。老年医学中普遍采用的一种全面，全面的方法可以为患有DS的人成年后提供最适当的护理。总样本中平均有0.7个人使用了精神药物。多发病率的高流行和多种药物的普遍使用导致较高的临床复杂性，这似乎与老年人的非三体人群的复杂程度相似。老年医学中普遍采用的一种全面，全面的方法可以为患有DS的人成年后提供最适当的护理。