[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.