Background:​Adults with intellectual disabilities have a greater risk for fragility fractures that begin to accumulate early in the adult lifespan, which may contribute to accelerated health declines. The objective was to determine if fragility fractures were associated with an increased 2-year rate of cardiorespiratory diseases among adults with intellectual disabilities.

Method:​This retrospective cohort study used nationwide administrative claims data from 01/01/2011–12/31/2016 from the Medicare fee-for-service database. 2-year incidence of cardiorespiratory diseases were compared between adults ≥18 years old with intellectual disabilities with (n = 6183) vs. without (n = 67,842) an incident fragility fracture after confounder adjustment using Cox regression.

Results:​ Fracture at the vertebral column, hip, non-proximal femur, tibia/fibula, and multiple sites had an elevated hazard ratio (HR) compared to those with no fracture for pneumonia, respiratory failure, heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease (HR range, 1.15–2.09, all P < 0.05), while humerus and radius/ulna fracture were associated with an elevated HR for congestive heart failure and cerebrovascular disease (HR range, 1.38–1.72, all P < 0.05).

Conclusions:​ Fragility fractures were associated with an increased incidence of cardiorespiratory diseases among adults with intellectual disabilities.