EUJAPA 2019, 12(1):6

Balance and strength assessment of Special Olympics athletes: how feasible and reliable is the Fun Fitness test battery?

Debbie van Biesen1,*, Roi Charles Pineda1
1 Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

This study examined the test-retest reliability and feasibility of four muscle strength and three balance tests included in the Special Olympics (SO) FUNfitness test battery. The test is used worldwide to assess physical fitness of SO athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID). A sample of 36 Belgian participants with ID (22 men, 14 women) aged 8–30 years, completed a battery of seven tests twice within a two-week time interval. We assessed test-retest reliability by means of intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), and Bland-Altman plots. All tests demonstrated good feasibility and relative and absolute reliability. The ICC ranged between 0.75 and 0.89. All SEM values demonstrated acceptable measurement precision (SEM<SD/2). The scatter around the Bland-Altman plots were randomly distributed. Despite the promising findings, further research is recommended to determine whether these balance and strength tests are also reliable in less standardized environments such as the SO testing-area.

Keywords: health-related physical fitness; performance related physical fitness; intellectual disability

Received: September 6, 2018; Accepted: March 14, 2019; Prepublished online: April 22, 2019; Published: May 1, 2019Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
van Biesen, D., & Pineda, R.C. (2019). Balance and strength assessment of Special Olympics athletes: how feasible and reliable is the Fun Fitness test battery? European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 12(1), 6
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. AAIDD. (2010). Intellectual disability: Definition, classification, and systems of supports (11th ed.). Washington, DC: American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
    2. Bandini, L.G., Curtin, C., Hamad, C., Tybor, D.J., & Must, A. (2005). Prevalence of overweight in children with developmental disorders in the continuous national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) 1999 -2002. Journal of Pediatrics, 146, 738-743. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2005.01.049 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    3. Blomqvist, S., Olsson, J., Wallin, L., Wester, A., & Rehn, B. (2013). Adolescents with intellectual disability have reduced postural balance and muscle performance in trunk and lower limbs compared to peers without intellectual disability. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 198-206. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.07.008 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    4. Blomqvist, S., Wester, A., Sundelin, G., & Rehn, B. (2012). Test-retest reliability, smallest real difference and concurrent validity of six different balance tests on young people with mild to moderate intellectual disability. Physiotherapy, 98, 313-319. doi:10.1016/j.physio.2011.05.006 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    5. Boer, P. H., & Moss, S. J. (2016). Test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change scores of twelve functional fitness tests in adults with Down syndrome. Resarch in Developmental Disabilities, 48, 176-185. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.10.022 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    6. Borji, R., Zghal, F., Zarrouk, N., Sahli, S., & Rebai, H. (2014). Individuals with intellectual disability have lower voluntary muscle activation level. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 3574-3581. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.08.038 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    7. de Rezende, L.F., Rodrigues Lopes, M., Rey-López, J.P., Rodrigues Matsudo, V.K., & do Carmo Luiz, O. (2014). Sedentary behavior and health outcomes: an overview of systematic reviews. PLoS One, 9(8), e105620. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105620 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    8. Enkelaar, L., Smulders, E., Van Schrojenstein Lantman - de Valk, H., Geurts, A.C., & Weerdesteyn, V. (2012). A review of balance and gait capacities in relation to falls in persons with intellectual disability. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33, 291-306. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.08.028 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    9. Fjørtoft, I., Pedersen, A.V., Sigmundsson, H., & Vereijken, B. (2011). Measuring physical fitness in children who are 5 to 12 years old with a test battery that is functional and easy to administer. Physical Therapy, 91, 1087-1095. doi:10.2522/ptj.20090350 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    10. Foley, J.T., Lloyd, M., Vogl, D., & Temple, V.A. (2014). Obesity trends of 8-18 year old Special Olympians: 2005-2010. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 705-710. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.12.005 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    11. Hale, L., Bray, A., & Littmann, A. (2007). Assessing the balance capabilities of people with profound intellectual disabilities who have experienced a fall. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 51, 260-268. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2006.00873.x Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    12. Hastings, R.P., Beck, A., Daley, D., & Hill, C. (2005). Symptoms of ADHD and their correlates in children with intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 456-468. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2004.10.003 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    13. Hilgenkamp, T.I., van Wijck, R., & Evenhuis, H.M. (2012). Feasibility and reliability of physical fitness tests in older adults with intellectual disability: A pilot study. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 37, 158-162. doi:10.3109/13668250.2012.681773 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    14. Hsieh, K., Heller, T., & Miller, A.B. (2001). Risk factors for injuries and falls among adults with developmental disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 45, 76-82. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2001.00277.x Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    15. Hsieh, K., Rimmer, J., & Heller, T. (2012). Prevalence of falls and risk factors in adults with intellectual disability. American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 117, 442-454. doi:10.1352/1944-7558-117.6.442 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    16. Hsu, T.-Y. (2016). Effects of Wii Fit® balance game training on the balance ability of students with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 28, 1422-1426. doi:10.1589/jpts.28.1422 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    17. Hutzler, Y., & Korsensky, O. (2010). Motivational correlates of physical activity in persons with an intellectual disability: A systematic literature review. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 54, 767-786. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01313.x Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    18. Lee, K., Lee, M., & Song, C. (2016). Balance training improves postural balance, gait, and functional strength in adolescents with intellectual disabilities: Single-blinded, randomized clinical trial. Disability and Health Journal, 9, 416-422. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.01.010 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    19. Lin, J.-D., Yen, C.-F., Li, C.-W., & Wu, J.-L. (2005). Patterns of obesity among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 18, 123-129. doi:10.1111/j.1468-3148.2005.00241.x Go to original source...
    20. Lloyd, M., Foley, J.T., & Temple, V.A. (2018). Maximizing the use of Special Olympics International's Healthy Athletes database: A call to action. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 73, 58-66. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.12.009 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    21. Lotan, M., Isakov, E., Kessel, S., & Merrick, J. (2004). Physical fitness and functional ability of children with intellectual disability: Effects of a short-term daily treadmill intervention. Scientific World Journal, 4, 449-457. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    22. Portney, L., & Watkins, M. (1993). Foundation of clinical research: Application to practice. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
    23. Schützwohl, M., Koch, A., Koslowski, N., Puschner, B., Voss, E., Salize, H. J., … & Vogel, A. (2016). Mental illness, problem behaviour, needs and service use in adults with intellectual disability. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51, 767-776. doi:10.1007/s00127-016-1197-4 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    24. Sherrard, J., Tonge, B.J., & Ozanne-Smith, J. (2001). Injury in young people with intellectual disability: Descriptive epidemiology. Injury Prevention, 7, 56-61. doi:10.1136/ip.7.1.56 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    25. Simonoff, E., Pickles, A., Wood, N., Gringras, P., & Chadwick, O. (2007). ADHD symptoms in children with mild intellectual disability. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 591-600. doi:10.1097/chi.0b013e3180323330 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    26. Special Olympics. (2013). Special Olympics FUNfitness: Learn how to organize, promote and present. Retrieved 23 April 2017, from https://media.specialolympics.org/resources/health/disciplines/funfitness/FUNfitness-Training-Manual.pdf?_ga=2.201019054.1625048988.1524495889-426579843.1524495889
    27. Taylor, R. W., Jones, I. E., Williams, S. M., & Goulding, A. (2002). Body fat percentages measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry corresponding to recently recommended body mass index cutoffs for overweight and obesity in children and adolescents aged 3-18 y. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 76, 1416-1421. doi:10.1093/ajcn/76.6.1416 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    28. Winnick J.P., & Short, F.X. (1999). The Brockport Physical Fitness Test. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
    29. Wuang, Y. P., Chang, J. J., Wang, M. H., & Lin, H. C. (2013). Test-retest reliabilities of hand-held dynamometer for lower-limb muscle strength in intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 2281-2290. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.04.010 Go to original source... Go to PubMed...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content