Alesi Marianna, Giustino Valerio, Gentile Ambra, Gómez-López Manuel, Battaglia Giuseppe
Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90144 Palermo, Italy.
J Clin Med. 2022 Aug 27;11(17):5031. doi: 10.3390/jcm11175031.
Many research studies have investigated motor impairments and delayed development in children with Down Syndrome (DS). However, very few studies detected these features in adults with DS. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between motor coordination and global development in subjects with DS, including adults. Furthermore, the second aim was to detect any differences in motor coordination and global development as a function of the practice of physical activity (PA) in this population.
Twenty-five participants with DS (10 f, 15 m), with a chronological mean age of 27.24 years and development mean age of cognitive area of 4.93 years, were enrolled and divided into a physically active group (PA-G; = 15) and a physically inactive group (PI-G; = 10). All participants performed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) to assess fine and gross motor skills, while the Developmental Profile 3 (DP-3) checklist was administered to the parents in order to screen strengths and weaknesses of five developmental areas of their relatives with DS.
Our results showed positive correlations between the following variables: global motor coordination and global development, global motor coordination and adaptive behavior development area, aiming and catching skills and global development, aiming and catching skills and adaptive behavior development area. As for the practice of PA, PA-G showed higher scores than PI-G in all the tasks of both the M-ABC and the DP-3, though significant differences were found only for the global motor coordination, for the aiming and catching skills, as well as for the physical development area.
The findings of this study reinforce the need to implement and encourage the practice of PA in order to promote well-being and social inclusion in subjects with DS.
许多研究调查了唐氏综合征（DS）患儿的运动障碍和发育迟缓情况。然而，很少有研究在成年DS患者中检测到这些特征。因此，本研究旨在调查包括成年人在内的DS患者的运动协调与整体发育之间的关系。此外，第二个目的是检测该人群中运动协调和整体发育因体育活动（PA）实践而产生的任何差异。
招募了25名DS患者（10名女性，15名男性），其实际平均年龄为27.24岁，认知领域的发育平均年龄为4.93岁，并将他们分为体育活动组（PA-G；n = 15）和非体育活动组（PI-G；n = 10）。所有参与者都进行了儿童运动评估量表（M-ABC）以评估精细和粗大运动技能，同时向家长发放了发育概况3（DP-3）清单，以筛查其患有DS的亲属五个发育领域的优势和劣势。
我们的结果显示以下变量之间存在正相关：整体运动协调与整体发育、整体运动协调与适应性行为发育领域、瞄准和接球技能与整体发育、瞄准和接球技能与适应性行为发育领域。至于PA的实践，PA-G在M-ABC和DP-3的所有任务中得分均高于PI-G，不过仅在整体运动协调、瞄准和接球技能以及身体发育领域发现了显著差异。
本研究结果强化了实施和鼓励PA实践的必要性，以促进DS患者的幸福感和社会融合。
