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Effects of Indoor Soccer Training on Physical Fitness Levels in Visually Impaired Athletes
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This study of the athlete members of the United States Association of Blind Athletes assessed the factors that affect their participation in and attitudes toward sports. Perhaps the most significant finding is the positive effect of school activities on subsequent participation in sports.
This study investigated activity patterns in nineteen students attending a state school for the blind. Factors such as residential status, gender, body mass index, and level of vision were unrelated to one another and did not predict physical activity behavior in study participants. Further, these data demonstrate that participants studied accumulated 7.31 bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, lower than estimates reported for peers without disabilities. Further, age-related analysis demonstrated an inverse relationship where physical activity was inversely correlated to age (rs = -.74) in these children and adolescents with visual impairments.
The purpose of this study to verify the effect of playing goalball on some measures of motor fitness. One hundred and three children (age13–15 years) with varying degrees of blindness were assessed for motor fitness. All participants were male. The participants underwent motor fitness (balance, handgrip, flexibility, vertical jump, isokinetic concentric peak torque) assessments. There were significant differences between goalball players and non-goalball players regarding many motor fitness components. Non-goalball players were inferior in all motor fitness compared with goalball players. This study suggests that goalball may be considered effective option to improve motor skills in visually impaired children.
This study was planned in order to determine physical activity levels of visually impaired children and adolescents and to investigate the effect of gender and level of vision on physical activity level in visually impaired children and adolescents. A total of 30 visually impaired children and adolescents (16 low vision and 14 blind) aged between 8 and 16 years participated in the study. The physical activity level of cases was evaluated with a physical activity diary (PAD) and one-mile run/walk test (OMR-WT). No difference was found between the PAD and the OMR-WT results of low vision and blind children and adolescents. The visually impaired children and adolescents were detected not to participate in vigorous physical activity. A difference was found in favor of low vision boys in terms of mild, moderate activities and OMR-WT durations. However, no difference was found between physical activity levels of blind girls and boys. The results of our study suggested that the physical activity level of visually impaired children and adolescents was low, and gender affected physical activity in low vision children and adolescents.
Our purpose was to establish normal patterns and relationships of stability using the Biodex Stability System.
The design of this study used both nonexperimental and quasi-experimental methods. All testing was performed in a university sports medicine laboratory.
Nineteen healthy subjects (8 males, 11 females, age = 24.4 +/- 4.2 years; wt = 70.5 +/- 20 kg; ht = 171.2 +/- 11.7 cm) with no history of lower extremity injury participated in this study.
For data analysis, the medial/lateral stability index (MLSI), anterior/posterior stability index (APSI), overall stability index (OSI), and time-in-balance scores were recorded.
Multiple regression revealed that APSI and MLSI significantly contributed to the OSI, with the APSI accounting for 95% of the OSI variance. Additionally, the percentage of time spent between 0 degrees and 5 degrees from level was significantly greater than the time spent between 6 degrees and 10 degrees , 11 degrees and 15 degrees , and 16 degrees and 20 degrees . Furthermore, the percentage of time spent between 6 degrees and 10 degrees was significantly greater than the time spent between 16 degrees and 20 degrees .
These data suggest that uninjured individuals spent the majority of the time balanced within 0 degrees to 5 degrees from level and progressively less time at greater angles. Additionally, the data suggest that the OSI is very closely related to the APSI and receives a relatively small contribution from the MLSI. Because of this small contribution, if the clinician is interested in both anterior-posterior and medial-lateral motions, it may be best to use the MLSI and APSI separately rather than the OSI.
Background:
Proper balance is crucial for postural control and physical activity performance. Issues related to balance as well as effects of various factors on balance are in the center of attention of specialists in a number of fields including sport. Research results show that every sports discipline demands different motor preparation (including balance) and persons with visual impairments exhibit worse balance compared to their sighted counterparts. Therefore, this study sought to assess static balance in athletes with visual impairments with reference to the type of sport they did, the length of their training experience, training loads and dysfunction level.
Methods:
The study involved 57 men (shooters, tandem cyclists, football and goalball players) with visual impairments. AMTI stabilographic platform was used to assess static balance. The study participants performed the following tests: standing on both feet with eyes open and closed and single-leg stance with eyes open and closed.
Results:
Balance in tests performed while standing on both feet did not differentiate athletes in terms of the sport they did. Static balance of athletes with visual impairments significantly differs in the single leg stance. Better balance was observed in tests with eyes open. Taking into consideration sports disciplines practiced by the athletes, significant differences in balance in single left leg tests with eyes open and closed were observed. Athletes training more than five hours per week manifested better balance compared to those who practiced less than five hours per week.
Conclusions:
The findings indicate that athletes performing particular sports may use strategies of maintaining balance that result from the structure of these sports. The lack of differences in balance among athletes with different degrees of dysfunction may indicate their high fitness levels and show how balance is affected by physical activity performance. Results of the analysis of balance with regard to the length of training experience may suggest that it is not this factor but rather the quality of training that may exert an influence on this ability.
Purpose:
To determine the intra- and inter-session reliability of balance performance in people with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) and matched controls.
Methods:
In this methodological study, single-leg-stance performance of 15 participants with unilateral PFPS and 15 healthy matched controls was assessed using the Biodex Balance System (BBS) under 4 task difficulty levels (static and dynamic, with and without visual feedback). Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs), standard errors of measurement, and coefficients of variation were calculated for the overall stability index, anterior-posterior stability index, and medial-lateral stability index.
Results:
Static and dynamic postural performance during single-leg stance showed moderate to very high reliability in the PFPS group (ICCs=0.53-0.96) and in healthy control participants (ICCs=0.51-0.91). Both measures were more reliable with eyes closed than with eyes open.
Conclusion:
BBS stability indices appear to have acceptable reliability in people with PFPS, particularly in more challenging conditions, and may be incorporated into the evaluation and rehabilitation of this patient group.
This study examined gender, disability type, age, and specific diagnostic category in relation to habitual physical activity levels (HPA), perceived fitness (PF), and perceived participation limitations (PPL) of youths, ages 6 to 20 years, in Ontario, Canada. Data collected through a mailed survey (Longmuir and Bar-Or, 1994) were reanalyzed using ANOVA and chi square statistics to provide new information. The 458 girls and 499 boys were classified by disability type: physical, chronic medical, visual, and hearing. Significant differences (p < .01) were between (a) HPA and disability type, specific diagnostic category, and age; (b) PF and disability type; and (c) PPL and disability type. Gender did not influence the results. Youths with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and visual impairment had the most sedentary lifestyles.
This study tested 46 children with visual impairments (26 girls and 20 boys) on the Fitnessgram health-related fitness test. It found that fewer than 20% of the children with visual impairments passed at least four items on the Fitnessgram, compared to 48%-70% of the sighted children.
Evaluating balance can be an important part of the rehabilitation protocol of an athletic injury. One purpose of this study was to determine the intertester and intratester reliability scores of single-leg stability on a platform of gradually decreasing stability using the Biodex Stability System (BSS). The second purpose was to determine intertester and intratester reliability scores of subject foot placement on the BSS. Subjects (N= 19) underwent a familiarization session on Day 1 that included five 30-s balance tests on the BSS. In each of the five tests, platform stability gradually decreased over the 30 s. Subjects were tested without footwear at all times. On the second day, each subject was tested twice by the same investigator and once by a second investigator using the same 30-s test. Investigator tests were counterbalanced to eliminate order effects. Intertester intraclass correlations (ICCs) ranged from .70 to .42 for stability index and from .93 to .54 for foot placement. Intratester ICCs ranged from .82 to .43 for stability index and from .81 to .55 for foot placement. The overall stability index scores were the most reliable stability scores (.82 for intratester and .70 for intertester). A 30-s, single-leg, gradually decreasing plat form stability test appears to be highly reliable when performed on the BSS.
For more than half a century fellows of the National Academy of Kinesiology have enthusiastically advocated for the promotion and adoption of physically active lifestyles as an affordable and effective means to prevent chronic diseases and conditions, and enhance independence and high quality of life for older adults. It is possible to discern distinct evolutionary stages when examining scholarship related to the role of physical activity in the promotion of healthy aging. Research into physical activity and aging began with critical early studies that established the underlying scientific evidence for a relationship between physical activity and healthy aging. More recent work has addressed such topics as building consumer demand, developing policies and legislation to support active aging, and understanding the complex interrelationships between physical activity and other lifestyle factors in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and conditions. It is increasingly apparent that strategies to promote active and successful aging must be integrated into an effective public policy. Kinesiologists and other health professionals, working in collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines, can help to reduce risk factors for chronic disease and improve quality of life for older adults by building awareness of the importance of physical activity and by assisting with the development and implementation of appropriate and effective interventions that reduce risk factors and improve quality of life.
The authors thank the American Printing House for the Blind and Tristan Pierce for their support for this research project. In the past 30 years, the percentage of children who are overweight has more than tripled, partly because of the prevalence of decreasing levels of physical activity (Pangrazi, 2004). Unfortunately, children with disabilities generally have even lower levels of health-related fitness because of both physical and psychosocial constraints (Longmuir & Bar-Or, 2000). Research has consistently shown that individuals who participate in regular physical activity to improve health-related fitness have higher energy levels and lower their risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases. In addition, regular participation in physical activity has also been found to improve psychological health and to lessen depression and anxiety (Kilpatrick, Hebert, & Jacobsen, 2002). Abstract: This study sought to determine the effects of using a talking pedometer on walking behavior and the value placed on walking by 22 children who are visually impaired or deaf-blind. The results revealed that the children were motivated to set challenging goals for increasing daily activity levels through the feedback provided by the talking pedometers.
It has been suggested that children with intellectual disabilities (ID) have motor problems and higher-order cognitive deficits. The aim of this study was to examine the motor skills and executive functions in school-age children with borderline and mild ID. The second aim was to investigate the relationship between the two performance domains.
Sixty-one children aged between 7 and 12 years diagnosed with borderline ID (33 boys and 28 girls; 71 < IQ < 79) and 36 age peers with mild ID (24 boys and 12 girls; 54 < IQ < 70) were assessed. Their abilities were compared with those of 97 age- and gender-matched typically developing children. Qualitative motor skills, i.e. locomotor ability and object control, were evaluated with the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). Executive functioning (EF), in terms of planning ability, strategic decision-making and problem solving, was gauged with the Tower of London (TOL) task.
Compared with the reference group, the full ID cohort scored significantly lower on all assessments. For the locomotor skills, the children with mild ID scored significantly lower than the children with borderline ID, but for the object control skills and the TOL score, no significant differences between the two groups were found. Motor performance and EF correlated positively. At the most complex level, the TOL showed decision time to be a mediator between motor performance and EF: the children with the lower motor scores had significantly shorter decision times and lower EF scores. Analogously, the children with the lower object control scores had longer execution times and lower EF scores.
The current results support the notion that besides being impaired in qualitative motor skills intellectually challenged children are also impaired in higher-order executive functions. The deficits in the two domains are interrelated, so early interventions boosting their motor and cognitive development are recommended.
Twenty-seven children (age 7–17 years) with varying degrees of blindness but with no other known disorder were assessed for physical fitness. Twenty-seven randomly selected children with normal eyesight were also assessed. Maximum oxygen uptake () was measured directly during a progressive exercise test on a treadmill. There was a significant and substantial reduction in in totally blind children (mean ± standard deviation 35.0±7.5 ml · min−1 · kg−1) compared with normal children (45.9±6.6 ml · min−1 · kg−1). Partially sighted children had a significant but smaller reduction in. Fitness assessed by a step-test was significantly reduced in the visually impaired children, and skin-fold thickness was also significantly greater in totally blind children.
The level of habitual physical activity for each child, as assessed by a questionnaire, correlated with (r=0.53,p<0.0001). Blind children were significantly less active than normal children, and the difference between mean for blind and normal children became non-significant when their different activity levels were taken into account. It is concluded that totally blind children are less fit than other children at least partly because of their lower level of habitual activity.
Ten patients with chronic unilateral functional lateral instability of the ankle were evaluated using the Biodex Stability System. This system uses a multiaxial testing platform which can be set at variable degrees of instability. Patients are then tested for their ability to “balance” the platform during single-limb stance, and a stability index is electronically generated. This stability index is believed to be an objective measurement that correlates with proprioceptive status of the ankle.
Instability of the ankle was confirmed in all 10 patients, using stress radiographs. Two levels of platform stability were tested. With the platform in its most stable configuration, there was minimal difference between the previously injured and the uninjured ankle. With the platform set to permit up to 20° of tilt in any plane, 6 of 10 patients had more difficulty balancing the platform with their injured ankle (higher stability index). This preliminary study suggests that the Biodex Stability System may be a useful tool in trying to objectively measure proprioceptive function.
There have been increased opportunities and sports participation by athletes with disabilities during the past decades. Research on pediatric athletes with disabilities remains limited. Appropriate classification of athletes on the basis of their functional abilities is key to fair participation. Preparticipation evaluation of these athletes is based on similar principles as for able-bodied athletes. The prevalence, nature, evaluation, differential diagnosis, and treatment principles for injuries are similar for athletes with disability and for those without. There are few disability-specific medical and orthopedic issues to be considered in working with these athletes. Sport participation recommendations are based on the specific disability and demands of the sport. The vast majority of athletes with disabilities can participate safely in a number of sports if appropriately matched; such participation should be encouraged and facilitated at all levels because of well-recognized psychological and medical benefits. Significant progress has been made in increasing sports participation opportunities for persons with disabilities; this is especially true for adults and, to a lesser extent, for children and adolescents. Many barriers remain, however: inadequate facilities, exclusion of children with disabilities, medical professional overprotection, lack of trained personnel and volunteers to work with children with disabilities, lack of public knowledge about disabilities, and lack of financial support for sport and physical education in schools [9,12].
Children's physical activity (PA) has been studied extensively, but little information is available on those with disabilities. We sought to examine the PA of children with disabilities during physical education (PE) and recess while simultaneously documenting environmental conditions.
Five schools designed for students with four types of special needs (physical disability, mild intellectual disability, hearing impairment, and visual impairment) participated. We used the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT) to code the PA of children in grades 4 to 6 during both PE and recess and to document teacher behavior and lesson context in PE. Observations were conducted during 2 school days over a 2-week period.
Children accrued little moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during PE (7.8 min) and recess (8.9 min). Activity levels varied across disability types, with differences attributed to lesson context and teacher behavior. Children with physical disabilities were the least active during both PE and recess.
Children with disabilities accrue little PA at school. Increased PE frequency and lesson intensity, more PA opportunities during non-structured school time, and collaborations with home and community agencies are needed to reach PA recommendations.
Testing whether a distribution is normal
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Effects of goalball game and movement training on the physical fitness of visually impaired children
- E Çalışkan
- A Pehlivan
- S İnal
- Ş Dane
- S Akar
Çalışkan E, Pehlivan A, İnal S, Dane Ş,
Akar S. [Effects of goalball game and
movement training on the physical fitness of visually impaired children].