Physical fitness of children and adolescents with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow diagram of inclusion process.

Table 1. Participants’ characteristics for the total group.

	N	%	M	SD
N	128		–	–
Sex
Boys	83	[65]	–	–
Girls	45	[35]	–	–
Age (years)	128		9.6	±4.1
2–6 years	44	[34]	–	–
7–12 years	44	[34]	–	–
13–18 years	40	[31]	–	–
Level of ID
Moderate ID	54	[43]	–	–
Severe ID	73	[57]	–	–
Adaptive behaviour (years)	111		1.9	±1.3
Autism spectrum disorder	44	[34]	–	–
Down syndrome	30	[23]	–	–
Challenging behaviour	86	[67]	–	–
Low social economic status	46	[36]	–	–
Non-Dutch origin	33	[26]	–	–
Score on Bayley scale of infant development	118		59.5	±7.4
Steps per day	68		6677	±2600

ID: intellectual disability.

Table 2. Average score on the physical fitness tests and percentage participants scoring worse than reference values.

		Score on test		Scoring worse than reference values^a
	n	M ± SD	[95% CI]	%	[95% CI]
BMI (kg/m^2)	118	19.3 ± 4.4	[18.5–20.1]
zBMI	118	0.82 ± 1.21	[0.59–1.04]	40	[31–49]
Waist circumference (cm)	116	65.4 ± 15.1	[62.6–68.2]	34	[25–42]
Overarm throwing (cm)	59	155 ± 84	[133–177]	71	[59–83]
Stair climbing (n)	63	32 ± 17	[28–37]	91	[85–97]
Modified 6MWT (m)	102	349 ± 98	[330–368]	75	[67–84]

CI: confidence interval; BMI: body mass index; 6MWT: 6-min walk test.

^aClassified as >2 SD (0–5 years), >1 SD (6–18 years) for BMI [59], >1.3 SD for waist circumference [61], <P5 for overarm throwing and stair climbing [64], and < P10 for modified 6MWT [66].

Figure 2. Scatterplots of the individual scores on the physical fitness test, with reference values plotted in the graphs. A. zBMI. B. Waist circumference – males. C. Waist circumference – females. D. Overarm throwing. E. Stair climbing. F. Modified 6MWT.

Table 3. Association of fitness outcomes and predictor variables assessed by a multiple linear regression analysis.

	BMI (kg/m^2; n = 54)			zBMI (n = 54)			Waist circumference (cm; n = 54)			Overarm throwing (cm; n = 41)			Stair climbing (n; n = 46)			Modified 6MWT (m; n = 51)
	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β
Adjusted R^2			41%			9%			61%			73%			69%			51%
Constant	18.45	4.90		3.06	1.88		36.15	13.32		−204.69	104.74		−61.95	22.21		−141.59	112.50
Sex^b	0.28	1.02	0.03	−0.14	0.40	−0.06	3.29	2.73	0.13	−23.57	17.13	−0.13	−7.27	3.53	−0.24*	20.39	25.52	0.09
Age^a	0.31	0.11	0.33**	−0.11	0.04	−0.37*	2.00	0.29	0.65***	7.18	2.04	0.32**	0.61	0.40	0.18	4.18	2.74	0.17
Adaptive behaviour^c	1.12	0.32	0.47**	0.19	0.12	0.26	1.48	0.86	0.17	24.22	5.01	0.50***	4.06	1.00	0.44***	15.47	7.76	0.25^#
Motor development^d	−0.05	0.08	−0.09	−0.01	0.03	−0.06	0.10	0.21	0.05	4.04	1.59	0.27*	1.40	0.34	0.44***	4.73	1.94	0.34*
Physical activity^e	−0.33	0.20	−0.22	0.14	0.08	−0.28	−0.74	0.51	−0.14	–	–	–	–	–	–	13.67	4.93	0.33**

BMI: body mass index; zBMI: BMI standardised for age; 6MWT: 6-min walk test; DS: Down syndrome.

a in years; ^b1 = male; 2 = female; ^cVineland Z score; ^dBayley scale of infant development, gross motor scale score; ^eSteps per day, unit per 1000; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ^#p = 0.052.

Bold font indicates a significant association.

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