Abstract

Introduction: Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) require cognitive, adaptive and quality of life (QoL) assessments in order to program integral strategies of intervention based on their needs. The objective of this study is to describe quality of life, adaptive behavior and cognition in a series of children and adolescents with ID. Method: 28 patients between 6 and 18 years old were studied with QoL scales, adaptive behavior and cognitive evaluations, and their correlations. Results: On the CV scale, an average score was obtained, 45-50 percentile range, with a lower score in dimensions of personal development, interpersonal relationships and social inclusion. On the adaptive behavior scale, most of the patients presented a low adaptive level; their most affected domains were communication and socialization. When relating QoL, adaptive behavior and cognition, a significant correlation was found between general adaptive function and cognition (r =,74, p <,01) and between adaptive function and quality of life index (r =,63, p <,01). Conclusions: In our series of children and adolescent with ID, a lower adaptive behavior is associated with a lower QoL and lower cognition. Social inclusion, personal development and interpersonal relationships, as well as socialization and communication, are the lines to consider as intervention plans.