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Understanding Physical Activity Demands and Reported Perceptions of Fatigue in Children with Developmental
Kavya Iyer1, Richard Stevenson2, Vydia Permashwar3
1Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA.
Insights
Physical activity
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Exercise Science
- Developmental Disabilities
Background:
- Children with developmental disabilities often have lower physical activity levels.
- This increases their risk for chronic health conditions.
- Physical activity may help manage these conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between physical activity impact, duration, and fatigue.
- To compare children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Down Syndrome (DS) to typically developing (TD) children.
Main Methods:
- Prospective and retrospective parent-reported questionnaires over 3 days.
- Included children aged 4-10 years with CP, DS, or TD.
- Statistical analyses included repeated measures ANOVA and correlations.
Main Results:
- Parent reports showed increased physical activity impact correlated with decreased fatigue across all groups (r = -0.349, p < 0.001).
- Parents of children with CP reported a negative relationship between physical activity time and fatigue (r = -0.553, p < 0.001).
- Children with CP reported significantly different fatigue perceptions compared to TD children (F = 8.248, p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Parent-reported data suggest associations between physical activity and fatigue perceptions in children with and without disabilities.
- Findings highlight the potential role of physical activity in managing fatigue in children with CP and DS.
Abstract:
Children with developmental disabilities are less physically active and at increased risk for chronic conditions that physical activity might ameliorate. This study examined the relationships between the impact of physical activity (e.g., muscles burning, body tiredness), physical activity time and fatigue in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Down Syndrome (DS) in comparison to typically developing (TD) children. A convenience sample of children and parents was enrolled. All children were between 4 and 10 years, ambulatory, medically stable, not taking sleep-aid medications and were either TD (n = 20) or diagnosed with CP (n = 14) or DS (n = 5). Children and parents separately answered questionnaires about participation in physical activity and fatigue during the past week, yielding retrospective data. Additionally, they completed prospective questionnaires for 3 consecutive days. Repeated measures multivariate and univariate analyses (post hoc) of variance, along with correlations between variables were completed. Analyses of retrospective data yielded no specific findings. Prospectively, all groups of parents reported that as the impact of physical activity increased, perceptions of fatigue decreased (r = -0.349; p < 0.001). Parents of children with Cerebral Palsy noted a negative relationship between the time spent doing physical activity and perceptions of fatigue (r = -0.553; p < 0.001). Between-group differences in perceptions of fatigue occurred for children with CP compared to TD (F = 8.248; p < 0.001). Parent-reported findings suggest potential associations between physical activity participation and perceptions of fatigue across diagnostic groups.
