Comparison of Physical Fitness in Persons with Intellectual Disability with and without Experience of Special Olympics Iran

Introduction: Participating in sports programs increases physical and mental health and fitness. The purpose of this study was to assess the physical fitness of persons with intellectual disability (ID) who participated in Special Olympics Iran, and comparing with their counterparts who did not participate in the these matches.Materials and Methods: The research sample included ۱۳۸ boys with ID in two groups, athletes (۷۰ boys with ID with and without Down’s syndrome) and non-athletes (۶۸ boys with ID with and without Down’s syndrome), aged ۱۸ to ۳۰ years. To assess physical fitness, a set of Eurofit special tests, including explosive leg strength (standing broad jump test), arm strength (pushing a ۲ kg ball test), abdominal muscle endurance (sit-up test), speed (۲۰ meter run test), flexibility (sit and reach test), and balance (walk on a bench test) were used. To compare two groups, independent t test for variables of explosive leg strength, abdominal muscle endurance, and speed, and also Mann-Whitney U statistical method for variables of arm strength, flexibility, balance, and body mass index (BMI) were used at a significant level of P < ۰.۰۵۰.Results: There were significant differences in variables of flexibility (P = ۰.۰۳۵), abdominal muscle endurance (P = ۰.۰۳۴), explosive leg strength (P = ۰.۰۲۵), and speed (P = ۰.۰۰۹) between athlete and non-athlete boys with ID with and without Down’s syndrome. Moreover, there were significant differences in BMI (P = ۰.۰۴۱) and speed (P = ۰.۰۰۱) between athlete and non-athlete boys with ID without Down’s syndrome, and also in flexibility (P = ۰.۰۳۰), abdominal muscle endurance (P = ۰.۰۰۱), explosive leg strength (P = ۰.۰۰۱), and speed (P = ۰.۰۰۲) between athlete and non-athlete boys with Down’s syndrome.Conclusion: According to the results, the participants in Special Olympics Iran had a better level of physical fitness than those without this experience. Therefore, Special Olympics programs are recommended as an effective factor in improving the physical fitness of boys with ID.

کلیدواژه ها:

المپیک ویژه ایران ، آمادگی جسمانی ، کم توان ذهنی ، سندرم داون