Leisure participation for school-aged children with Down syndrome

Abstract

Purpose. To describe leisure participation for school-aged children with Down syndrome and to investigate how factors, classified by the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, influence their leisure participation.

Method. Families in Western Australia with a child aged 5–18 years with Down syndrome were surveyed in a population-based study (n  ==  208) in 2004.

Results. One-third of parents reported that their child with Down syndrome had no friends although half reported two or more friends. Factors affecting number of friendships included the child's functional ability, behavioural issues and parent's availability of time. Those children with higher functional independence scores in daily tasks were more likely to have two or more friends than those with lower functional independence scores (OR: 1.02, 95%% CI 1.01–1.04 for a single point increase in WeeFIM score). All children participated in predominantly solitary and sedentary leisure activities.

Conclusions. Leisure participation was affected by complex factors both within and external to the child with Down syndrome. Further investigation of the relevance of these factors to leisure may enable more satisfying and meaningful participation in leisure for school-aged children with Down syndrome.

Keywords:

• Down syndrome
• friendships
• International Classification of Functioning
• Disability and Health, leisure, participation

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the participation of families in the Down Syndrome NOW study and thank them for their ongoing contributions to the study. The authors also thank the Down Syndrome Western Australia and staff at the Disability Services Commission for their ongoing assistance in the study.

Declaration of interest

The authors acknowledge funding of the study by the National Institutes of Health (5R01HD043100-05). Helen Leonard was previously funded by a NHMRC programme grant (no. 353514). Her current funding is from an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship no. 572568.