Gender Differences, Motor Skills and Physical Fitness Heterogeneity in Adults with Down’s Syndrome

Abstract

Background—Adults with Down’s syndrome (DS) present lower physical fitness associated with heightened sedentary behaviors and motor skills impairments. Their etiologies and determinants seem to be heterogeneous. This study aims to evaluate physical fitness in adults with DS and to identify specific physical fitness profiles depending on gender and physical activity levels. Methods—Forty adults with DS (16 women, 24 men, 29.7 ± 7.5 years) performed six tests from the EUROFIT Battery and Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MAB-C). Their maximal aerobic capacity was assessed using an incremental treadmill test to assess (VO2peak). Ecological, physical activity, and sedentary levels were evaluated subjectively (Global Physical Activity Questionnaire) and objectively using an Actigraph GT9X® accelerometer over a seven-day period. Results—VO2peak and isometric strength were significantly lower for women (p < 0.01), whereas men had significantly lower flexibility than women (p < 0.05). Using a principal component analysis and an agglomerative hierarchical analysis, we identified three clusters. Cluster 1 (n = 14; 50% men; Body Mass index = 28.3 ± 4.3) was characterized by significantly poorer physical fitness variables (VO2peak (p < 0.01), strength (p < 0.01) and balance (p < 0.05)) compared to Clusters 2 and 3. Cluster 2 (n = 19; 58% men; Body Mass index = 22.9 ± 2.0) and Cluster 3 (n = 19; 58% men; BMI = 22.9 ± 1.9) were characterized by subjects with comparable physical fitness profiles, except for the balance capacities, which were significantly lower in Cluster 3 (p < 0.05). Conclusions—DS subjects exhibited high heterogeneity in terms of physical fitness, PA, and sedentary levels, with a significant gender effect. The present findings are important to identify subjects at higher risk of sedentary behaviors and impaired motor capacities to develop personalized PA programs.

Measurement protocols and determinants of peak oxygen consumption in adults with Down syndrome: a systematic review

“…fasted, caffeine, alcohol and exercise abstention prior to measurements; Data S2). Only three studies reported that examiners had previous experience with the population and testing (Wee et al 2015;Ayán-Pérez et al 2017;Covain et al 2023), and 10 protocols reported standardisation of the environment with regard to temperature and/or humidity (Pitetti et al 1992;Pitetti & Boneh 1995;Tsimaras et al 2003;Mendonca et al 2010;Mendonca et al 2010b;Mendonca et al 2011a,b;Boer & Moss 2016a,b;Oviedo et al 2021).…”

“…With regard to BMI, only three studies out of the 43 included participants with DS whose mean BMIs fell within the normal range (20-24.9) (Bricout et al 2008;Leti et al 2015;Covain et al 2023). The mean BMI of the study samples was between 25 and 29.9 (overweight) in 17 studies and between 30 and 34.9 (obesity class I) in 14 studies.…”

“…Information on the level of ID was underreported, with only 16 out of the 43 studies reporting on ID level [of which only two reported quantitative information on classifications (Pitetti & Boneh 1995;Oviedo et al 2021)]. Of the 16 studies that reported ID level, seven reported that their included sample had a mild ID (Fernhall et al 2005; Ordonez et al 2014;Ayán-Pérez et al 2017), eight studies reported a range from mild to moderate ID (Pitetti & Boneh 1995;Fernhall et al 1996;Guerra et al 2000;Guerra et al 2003;Tsimaras & Fotiadou 2004;Fernhall et al 2009;Mendonca et al 2011a;Covain et al 2023) and one study reported a range from borderline to moderate ID (Oviedo et al 2021).…”

“…With regard to the reported countries in which data collection took place, 11 out of 43 studies were performed in the USA (Climstein et al 1993;Pitetti & Boneh 1995;Fernhall et al 1996;Goulopoulou et al 2006;Fernhall et al 2009;Cowley et al 2010;Cowley et al 2011;Hu et al 2013;Beck et al 2021;Beck et al 2022;Dodd et al 2023), with an additional three studies for which data collection took place in Spain and the USA (Baynard et al 2008;Wee et al 2015;) and one study with data collected in Spain, Portugal and the USA (Mendonca et al 2022). Four studies reported data collection took place in Spain (Guerra et al 2000;Ordonez et al 2014;Ayán-Pérez et al 2017;Oviedo et al 2022), four studies reported that data collection took place in South Africa (Boer & Moss 2016a,b;Boer 2018;Boer 2023) and two studies collected data in France (Bricout et al 2008;Covain et al 2023). The country was not reported in 19 of the 43 studies (44%), but based on the research groups of those studies, it is unlikely that those studies would have led to a significantly wider distribution of represented countries.…”

The benefit of a four-week range of motion exercise on hand muscle strength in children with Down Syndrome

“…Children with Down syndrome have neuromuscular disorders that cause developmental delays, poor movement quality, and poor balance [10]. Movement difficulties linked with Down syndrome can lead to a more sedentary lifestyle and decreased physical fitness, with adults having poorer aerobic capacity than healthy people [11,12]. In addition, children with Down syndrome consistently show decreased upper and lower body muscle strength compared to children with normal conditions [13].…”