Sedentary Time, Physical Activity Levels and Physical Fitness in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Po-Jen Hsu, Hung-Shih Chou, Yi-Hsiang Pan, Yan-Ying Ju, Chia-Liang Tsai and Chien-Yu Pan
Additional contact information
Po-Jen Hsu: Graduate Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
Hung-Shih Chou: Graduate Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
Yi-Hsiang Pan: Graduate Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
Yan-Ying Ju: Department of Adapted Physical Education, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
Chia-Liang Tsai: Institute of Physical Education, Health and Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
Chien-Yu Pan: Department of Physical Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung 802, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Purpose : This cross-sectional study assessed the associations of gender, age, level of intellectual disabilities (IDs) and of daily sedentary and physical activity (PA) time with physical fitness in adults with ID. Materials and methods : Sixty adults (mean age = 39.19 ± 11.70 years) with ID participated in this cross-sectional study. PA was monitored for 7 days using an ActiGraph GT3X monitor. Physical fitness was measured with a 6-min walking test, isometric push-up test, modified curl-up test, handgrip strength test, and back-saver sit-and-reach test. Results : (a) An age of ?39 years and female gender were associated with lower performance in multiple aspects of physical fitness. (b) More moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was associated with greater muscular strength and endurance (modified curl-ups: ? = 0.36, p < 0.01; handgrip strength: right, ? = 0.52, p < 0.01; left, ? = 0.52, p < 0.01). (c) More light-intensity PA (LPA) was associated with greater upper-body muscular endurance (? = 0.42, p < 0.01) and greater flexibility (right leg: ? = 0.36, p < 0.01; left leg: ? = 0.38, p < 0.01). Conclusion : LPA may be as beneficial as MVPA to the physical fitness of adults with ID. Future studies should focus on developing effective PA interventions for adults with ID, especially for women and individuals aged ?39 years, by incorporating both LPA and MVPA.

Keywords: physical fitness; intellectual disability; physical activity; sedentary time; accelerometer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/5033/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/5033/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:5033-:d:551470

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().