Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a constellation of social deficits and repetitive sensory-motor behaviours. Aquatic therapy (AT) may be effective in improving the social interactions and behaviours in children with ASD. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of an AT program on social competence and quality of life and to understand participant’s experiences related to the intervention by obtaining qualitative data. A mixed methods intervention study was conducted among 6 children with ASD and their parents, with two research phases in a concurrent embedded design (an aquatic intervention as the quantitative design and a qualitative design in second step). The intervention and qualitative design followed international guidelines and were integrated into the method and reporting subheadings. Significant improvement was observed in the physical competence (p = 0.026) and important improvements in school functioning and aquatic skills, with no adverse events. Qualitative findings described: the meaning of AT intervention, patterns of behaviour and activities changes, social communication and social interaction. The aquatic intervention showed positive results for the social and physical competence, with elements of discordance, expansion, and confirmation between quantitative and qualitative results.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between anaerobic performance (AnP), applicable field tests, and the functional classification levels in female wheelchair basketball athletes.Methods: Female wheelchair basketball athletes (N = 23; Category A, n = 9; Category B, n = 14) from the Canadian national team were evaluated using field tests and the 30-second Wingate Anaerobic Test. Measures of peak power output (PP), time to achieve peak power (tPP), mean power output (MP), and a fatigue index (FI) were used to assess AnP. A test battery evaluating seven wheelchair basketball skills was applied. Student’s t test was used to identify differences between the two main functional categories (A and B). Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient were calculated to determine the significance of all relationships between the parameters of AnP, the results of the field tests, and the eight functional classification levels of the athletes (1.0-4.5 pts.).Results: In all analyzed parameters, except for the field test measuring shooting skills, the results of AnP were significantly higher for Category B players. Significant relationships were observed between athletes’ classification level and AnP and the field tests except for tPP, the 5 m sprint, and the shooting test. The strongest association was observed for MP and PP, MP and FI, PP and FI (p = 0.001).Conclusions: Strong associations were found between the functional classification level and AnP of the female wheelchair basketball athletes. The strongest correlation was confirmed between MP, PP, and the field test measuring the two-handed chest pass, suggesting that this test can be used to indirectly assess the anaerobic performance of female wheelchair basketball athletes.

The purpose of the study was to examine the sport-specific performance of wheelchair rugby players with regard to their classification. A group of 30 male athletes from the Polish Wheelchair Rugby League participated in the study. The seven International Wheelchair Rugby Federation classes were collapsed into four groups. Standardized measures of aerobic, anaerobic, and skill performance were examined to identify performance differences among the four groups. Major findings were that most differences were between Group I players and all others and that anaerobic performance was the most sensitive to classification differences. Another important finding was that for all other groups, with one exception, adjacent groups did not differ in anaerobic, aerobic, and sport-specific skill performance. The results of this study demonstrate the need to investigate other performance measures that will help in evaluating the current wheelchair rugby classification system.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of ecological momentary assessment in evaluating physical activity among children, adolescents, and adults. It also determines whether ecological momentary assessment fulfills the criteria of validity, reliability, objectivity, norms, and standardization applied to the tools used for the evaluation of physical activity. Methods. The EBSCO-CINHAL, Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed, and SPORTDiscuss databases were reviewed in December 2012 for articles associated with EMA. Results. Of the 20 articles examined, half (10) used electronic methods for data collection, although various methods were used, ranging from pen and paper to smartphone applications. Ten studies used objective monitoring equipment. Nineteen studies were performed over 4 days. While the validity of the EMA method was discussed in 18 studies, only four found it to be objective. In all cases, the EMA procedures were precisely documented and confirmed to be feasible. Conclusions. Ecological momentary assessment is a valid, reliable, and feasible approach to evaluate activity and sedentary behavior. Researchers should be aware that while ecological momentary assessment offers many benefits, it simultaneously imposes many limitations which should be considered when studying physical activity.

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Wheelchair basketball is an adaptive Paralympic sport and wheelchair basketball players are under classification in sport. Coaches are looking for useful assessment tools (field-based tests) to evaluate players’ anaerobic performance (anaerobic capacity). The aim of this study was to assess the validity of field-based tests for anaerobic performance evaluation for two functional categories of wheelchair basketball players and to create a calculator to predict mean or peak power on the basis of the selected field-based test results. Sixty-one elite male wheelchair basketball players performed the Wingate Anaerobic Test and the following field-based tests: 3 m sprint, 5 m sprint, 10 m sprint, 20 m sprint, basketball chest pass test, medicine ball (3 kg) chest pass test, bilateral handgrip, 3-6-9 m drill test, 30-s sprint test, agility drill test and 10 × 5 m sprint test. The participants were divided into two functional categories: A (classes from 1.0 to 2.5; n = 29) and B (classes from 3.0 to 4.5; n = 32) according to the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation rules. The large effect size (Cohen’s d > 0.5) was found in four tests (3 m sprint, 5 m sprint, basketball chest pass test, medicine ball chest pass test; ES 0.90, 0.53, –0.96, –1.05). There were differences between category A and category B players regarding mean power, peak power and relative peak power. Peak power correlated with four tests, while mean power correlated with eight out of eleven tests. The formulas for estimating peak power or mean power in category A and B players were created separately. All the analyses confirmed that 3 m sprint, 5 m sprint, 10 m sprint, 20 m sprint, agility drill test, bilateral handgrip, 3-6-9 m drill test, 30-s sprint test, basketball chest pass test and medicine ball chest pass test are valid for non-laboratory anaerobic performance evaluation. Using the four formulas as a tool to predict mean or peak power on the basis of the selected field-based test results and functional categories will be helpful and will allow coaches and players to prepare pre-season, post-season and in-season conditioning exercises in wheelchair basketball.