Scheduled for Special Populations I Free Communications, Friday, April 2, 2004, 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM, Convention Center: 208


Comparison of Walking Habits of Men and Women With Intellectual Disabilities

Heidi I. Stanish, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada and Christopher C. Draheim, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

The health benefits of being physically active are well documented, however little information exists on physical activity habits of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The purpose of the study was to describe the physical activity habits of men and women with ID with and without Down syndrome (DS) residing in community settings. Thirty-eight women (age, M = 39.7, s = 9.5) and 65 men (age, M = 35.9, s = 11.2) with mild to moderate ID volunteered to participate in the cross-sectional study and wore the Yamax SW-500 and SW-700 Digiwalker pedometers (New Lifestyles, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.) for 7 consecutive days. The sample included 9 women (age, M = 37.4, s = 6.6) and 10 men (age, M = 38.0, s = 12.9) with DS. Separate independent t-tests indicated there were no differences in total walking steps between women (p = .40) with and without DS or between men (p = .98) with and without DS. Separate independent t-tests indicated there were no differences between women (M = 53,312, s = 26,629) and men (M = 55,703, s = 27,218) in total weekly steps (p = .67), however, women (M = 6723, s = 5168) recorded less steps than men (M = 9556, s = 6949) on Tuesdays (p = .03). The daily steps were highly variable and included the following steps per day (M + s) for the entire group: Monday (7713 + 5211), Tuesday (8511 + 6471), Wednesday (9548 + 9865), Thursday (8176 + 5947), Friday (8456 + 5579), Saturday (6590 + 4652), and Sunday (5828 + 4598). The post-hoc analysis (LSD) of the repeated measures ANOVA comparing the days of the week (p < .000) indicated that the total group walked less on Saturday (p < .000 - .078) and Sunday (p < .000 - .004) than during each of the weekdays. The lower number of steps recorded on the weekends may be due to adults with ID using walking as their main mode of transportation to and from work. The daily step counts indicate that persons with ID have low physical activity levels similar to the general population with only 21.1% of the women and 21.5% of the men with ID recording the recommended 10,000 steps per day. Future research and programs should focus on strategies to increase physical activity habits of persons with ID. Successful strategies may benefit from including weekend physical activities.
Keyword(s): adapted physical activity, physical activity, wellness/disease prevention

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