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[Cancer incidence in persons with a mental handicap; possibly increased risk of esophageal cancer].

OBJECTIVE
Prompted by a British study which revealed a raised frequency of oesophageal cancer as the cause of death among the mentally handicapped, a study was made of the cancer incidence among an institutionalized population with a mental handicap, which incidence was compared with that among the population in general.


DESIGN
Retrospective follow-up study.


METHODS
An inventory was made of the cytologically or histologically confirmed cancer diagnoses among persons living in an institute for the mentally handicapped during 1 January 1974 through 1 January 1994 (n = 1020). The incidence figures were compared with those for the general population (Netherlands Cancer Registration 1989) after indirect standardization.


RESULTS
The total cancer risk among the population with a mental handicap was the same as that among the general population where women, and lower where men were concerned. This study brought to light a decreased risk of lung cancer (standardized morbidity rate (SMR): 0.33; 95% confidence interval: 0.33-0.97), while the SMR of oesophageal cancer showed no statistically significant increase.


CONCLUSIONS
Cancer is not more frequent among the mentally handicapped than among the general population. Nevertheless, increased attention for occurrence of oesophageal cancer appears to be still indicated.