Adding meaning to physical fitness test results in individuals with intellectual disabilities.

CONCLUSIONS: The ID-fitscan can be used by researchers, physiotherapists, and other clinical practitioners to evaluate physical fitness in adults with ID. Recommendations for future research include expansion of research into psychometric properties of more fitness tests and combining physical fitness data on this population in larger datasets. Implications for rehabilitation Individuals with intellectual disabilities have low physical fitness levels, and a high risk for unnecessary functional decline and unhealthy aging. Physical fitness testing could help improve, adapt and evaluate exercise interventions, but is challenging in this population. This paper proposes a selection of tests (ID-fitscan) with sufficient feasibility, reliability, and validity in this population, and provides reference values to aid interpretation of physical fitness test outcomes in individuals with intellectual disabilities. The ID-fitscan can be used by researchers, physiotherapists, and other clinical practitioners to evaluate physical fitness, and thereby allowing for a better interpretation of results by using the same tests, and an increasing knowledge of the physical fitness levels of this population. PMID: 30712416 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Disability and Rehabilitation - Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Tags: Disabil Rehabil Source Type: research