Fundamental movement skills in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities: A systematic review

This systematic review is a synthesis of studies concerning: (a) mastery, deficits, and/or delays in fundamental movement skills (FMS) among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities; (b) comparisons of FMS between children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities and those with typical development (TD); and (c) correlates of FMS.

A systematic electronic search was performed in 12 databases. Seventeen studies, published between 1951 and 2017, met the inclusion criteria.

Children with intellectual disabilities exhibited a lack of mastery and deficits/developmental delays in FMS. They tended to have significantly lower FMS performance than children with TD. Adolescents with intellectual disabilities had developmental delays in balance skills, but were not compared with adolescents with TD. Mastery or deficits in FMS were not explored. Several variables were significantly correlated with FMS among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

In future studies, FMS should be examined as an important outcome among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities.