Article

Children with disabilities have an increased risk for reduced fitness
and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Fitkids, a nationwide
exercise therapy program in the Netherlands, was developed to improve fitness and
HRQoL in children with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to
determine the effects of the Fitkids program on health-related fitness, walking
capacity, and HRQoL in children with disabilities or chronic conditions. DESIGN:
This was a quasi-experimental single-group longitudinal study. METHODS: Fifty-two
children and adolescents who were referred to the Fitkids program participated in
this study. Participants received a graded exercise training program for 6
months, with frequencies of 1 hour 2 times per week in the first 3 months and 1
hour per week during months 4 to 6. Health-related fitness (aerobic fitness,
anaerobic fitness, and muscle strength), walking capacity, and HRQoL were
evaluated at baseline and after 3 and 6 months of training. Multilevel modeling
was used to quantify the contributions of repeated measures, participants, and
Fitkids centers to variations in health-related fitness, walking capacity, and
HRQoL during the intervention period. The models were adjusted for sex, height,
and weight. RESULTS: After 6 months of training, significant intervention effects
were found for aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness, and muscle strength. A
significant effect also was found for walking capacity. On the HRQoL measure,
significant improvements were found for the self-reported and parent-reported
physical and emotion domains and for the parent-reported total score for HRQoL.
LIMITATIONS: No control group was included in this study. CONCLUSIONS: The
Fitkids exercise therapy program has significantly improved health-related
fitness, walking capacity, and HRQoL in children and adolescents with chronic
conditions or disabilities.
CI - (c) 2014 American Physical Therapy Association.

Langue : ANGLAIS