Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Sports Sciences, University of Yazd, Yazd, Iran.
2 Master of Sports Injuries and Corrective Exercises
Abstract
Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of rebound exercises on balance, strength and muscular endurance of children with Down syndrome. Materials and Method: 30 children with Down syndrome were selected through available sampling and randomly divided into two experimental groups of 15 people (age: 9.0±1.30 years, height: 1.30±0.05 m, weight: 32.51±3.39 kg) and control (age: 9.8±1.52 years, height: 1.31±0.03 m, weight: 32.46±2.56 kg) were divided. In order to evaluate the static and dynamic balance, the Bruininks-Ozertsky test was used, in order to evaluate the strength of knee flexion and extension, manual evaluation of muscle function was used, and in order to evaluate muscle endurance, the squat test was used before and after the exercises. The experimental group performed rebound exercises for 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week. In order to analyze the data, two-way repeated measure variance analysis tests were used at a significant level (p ≤ 0.05). Results: After 8 weeks of rebound exercises, a significant improvement was observed in static and dynamic balance tests, lower limb muscle strength and endurance (p ≤ 0.05). No significant difference was observed in any of the variables of the control group (p ˃ 0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, performing rebound exercises can improve balance, strength and muscle endurance and ultimately reduce the risk of falling in children with Down syndrome. Therefore, these exercises are recommended to therapists.
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