10-Year Longitudinal Changes in Fitness Parameters in Physiotherapy Students

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Physiotherapy Education
• Human Movement Studies

Background:

• Investigated changes in morphological characteristics, motor conditioning, and coordination skills among physiotherapy undergraduates.
• Examined trends over the first decade of the 21st century at a Polish medical university.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze secular trends in physical and motor fitness of physiotherapy students.
• To identify potential areas for curriculum improvement in physical education.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study (2001-2010) of physiotherapy students.
• Assessed morphological features (BMI, WHR), endurance (Cooper test, 2km march), and coordination (Starosta test).
• Statistical analysis included t-tests, Pearson's r, and ANCOVA.

Main Results:

• Significant increase in male students and decrease in average age.
• No significant changes in morphological characteristics or dimorphic differences.
• Overall improvement in endurance, but a decline in coordination skills, especially for women.
• Multidirectional and statistically significant changes observed in motor skills.

Conclusions:

• Physiotherapy students showed stable morphological characteristics but varied changes in motor skills.
• The findings suggest a need for further research into the causes of these motor skill changes.
• Recommendations include entry motor skills assessment and curriculum reorientation for physical education.