Psychiatric symptoms influence the performance on the Screener Intelligence and Learning Disabilities in general mental health care in The Netherlands

Purpose A recently published study showed a 41% prevalence of mild intellectual disability (MID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) in a large sample of Dutch psychiatric patients. This study aims to examine if the outcomes of the Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disabilities (SCIL) were affected by the severity of psychiatric symptoms during admission. Design/methodology/approach The authors administered the SCIL and the Kennedy Axis V (domain psychological impairment) at two moments when patients were sufficiently stabilised and just before discharge. Findings A total of 86% of the respondents had the same outcome regardless of the time of administration. The Kennedy score correlated modestly with changes in the SCIL scores, suggesting that the severity of psychiatric symptoms just modestly affected the performance. Practical implications Recognising MID/BIF in mental health care is essential but challenging for clinicians. The authors concluded that screening with the SCIL allows clinicians to identify patients with MID/BIF at an early stage of their admission, which helps to individualise treatment and reduce the risk of aggression, coercive measures and prolonged admissions. However, the authors prefer to assess all patients on cognitive impairment as early as possible after referral at a more stable moment in time. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no research concerning screening instruments on MID/BIF used at admission wards in Mental Health Care.