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Physical work capacity and daily physical activities of handicapped and non-handicapped children
Insights
Physically handicapped children exhibit lower physical work capacity and mechanical efficiency compared to non-handicapped peers. Daily physical activities also result in lower heart rates for handicapped children, suggesting reduced training maintenance.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric exercise physiology
- Rehabilitation science
Background:
- Children with physical handicaps often experience limitations in physical activity.
- Understanding their physical work capacity and mechanical efficiency is crucial for tailored interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare physical work capacity, mechanical efficiency, and daily physical activity patterns between handicapped and non-handicapped children.
- To investigate the relationship between mechanical efficiency and the type of handicap.
Main Methods:
- Assessed physical work capacity and mechanical efficiency using oxygen uptake measurements on a bicycle ergometer.
- Recorded daily physical activities over 24 hours and monitored heart rate response.
- Compared data between 24 handicapped and 24 non-handicapped children.
Main Results:
- Handicapped children demonstrated significantly lower physical work capacity.
- A subset of handicapped children showed reduced mechanical efficiency, correlated with specific handicap types (spastic hemiplegia, diplegia, tetraplegia).
- Handicapped children exhibited lower mean heart rates during strenuous daily activities and spent less time in high-intensity activities.
Conclusions:
- Non-handicapped children generally possess superior physical work capacity and mechanical efficiency.
- Daily physical activities contribute less to maintaining a high training state in handicapped children.
- Findings highlight the need for targeted physical activity programs to improve fitness in children with disabilities.
Abstract:
In this study physical work capacity, mechanical efficiency on the bicycle ergometer and daily physical activities were compared between 24 physically handicapped and 24 non-handicapped children. As a measure of mechanical efficiency and physical work capacity, the oxygen uptake per kg body weight at 0.5 watt . kg-1 and oxygen uptake per kg body weight at a heart rate of 150 beats . min-1 were used. The daily physical activities were recorded during a 24-h period by means of a scoring list. The load imposed by the daily physical activities was investigated by registration of heart rate. The mean value of the physical work capacity of the group of handicapped children was found to be lower compared with the non-handicapped children. The mechanical efficiency of 7 of the 24 handicapped children was lower when compared with the mechanical efficiency of 23 of the 24 non-handicapped children. A significant correlation between mechanical efficiency and nature of the handicap (spastic hemi-, di-, tetraplegic) was found (p less than 0.05). During light daily physical activities the handicapped children showed the same mean heart rate as the non-handicapped children, but the mean heart rate during heavy daily physical activities was lower for the handicapped group than for the non-handicapped group. The non-handicapped children spent more time in physical activities with relatively high heart rates. From the results obtained of oxygen uptake and heart rate measurements it is to be expected that non-handicapped children are able to maintain a higher state of training by means of their daily physical activities than are handicapped children.