Dite W, Temple VA. A clinical test of stepping and change of direction to identify multiple falling older adults. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1566-71. Objectives: To establish the reliability and validity of a new clinical test of dynamic standing balance, the Four Square Step Test (FSST), to evaluate its sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value in identifying subjects who fall, and to compare it with 3 established balance and mobility tests. Design: A 3-group comparison performed by using 3 validated tests and 1 new test. Setting: A rehabilitation center and university medical school in Australia. Participants: Eighty-one community-dwelling adults over the age of 65 years. Subjects were age- and gender-matched to form 3 groups: multiple fallers, nonmultiple fallers, and healthy comparisons. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Time to complete the FSST and Timed Up and Go test and the number of steps to complete the Step Test and Functional Reach Test distance. Results: High reliability was found for interrater (n=30, intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]=.99) and retest reliability (n=20, ICC=.98). Evidence for validity was found through correlation with other existing balance tests. Validity was supported, with the FSST showing significantly better performance scores (P<.01) for each of the healthier and less impaired groups. The FSST also revealed a sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 88% to 100%, and a positive predictive value of 86%. Conclusion: As a clinical test, the FSST is reliable, valid, easy to score, quick to administer, requires little space, and needs no special equipment. It is unique in that it involves stepping over low objects (2.5cm) and movement in 4 directions. The FSST had higher combined sensitivity and specificity for identifying differences between groups in the selected sample population of older adults than the 3 tests with which it was compared. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Leisure constraints theory was used as a framework to systematically review factors associated with dropout of organized sport among children and adolescents. Keyword searches for the population, context and construct of interest (i.e. dropout) identified articles from the entire contents of the following databases: Academic Search Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and SPORTDiscus. The initial search yielded 557 studies, and 43 met the selection criteria. Most studies focused solely on adolescents, and 89% of participants were male. Most studies were cross-sectional using quantitative approaches. Almost 30 different sports were included in the reviewed studies; however, the most represented sports were soccer, swimming, gymnastics and basketball. Findings from this review indicated that intrapersonal and interpersonal constraints are more frequently associated with dropping out of sport than structural constraints. Although many discrete factors associated with dropout were identified, five major areas emerged: lack of enjoyment, perceptions of competence, social pressures, competing priorities and physical factors (maturation and injuries). Rarely were the interrelationships between factors or the underlying dimensions of factors examined. Future research would benefit from mixed-methods and prospective approaches. These approaches would allow children and youth to explain how their experience of sport shaped their motives to dropout and allow researchers to probe the extent to which affordances and motives for participation aligned with athletes’ reasons for dropping out.

Lack of physical activity is a global public health problem causing not only morbidity and premature mortality, but it is also a major economic burden worldwide. One of the cornerstones of a physically active lifestyle is Motor Competence (MC). MC is a complex biocultural attribute and therefore, its study requires a multi-sectoral, multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approach. MC is a growing area of research, especially in children and adolescents due to its positive association with a plethora of health and developmental outcomes. Many questions, however, remain to be answered in this field of research, with regard to: (i) Health and Developmental-related Associations of MC; (ii) Assessment of MC; (iii) Prevalence and Trends of MC; (iv) Correlates and Determinants of MC; (v) MC Interventions, and (vi) Translating MC Research into Practice and Policy. This paper presents a narrative review of the literature, summarizing current knowledge, identifying key research gaps and presenting questions for future investigation on MC in children and adolescents. This is a collaborative effort from the International Motor Competence Network (IMCNetwork) a network of academics and researchers aiming to promote international collaborative research and knowledge translation in the expansive field of MC. The knowledge and deliverables generated by addressing and answering the aforementioned research questions on MC presented in this review have the potential to shape the ways in which researchers and practitioners promote MC and physical activity in children and adolescents across the world.

This review characterizes physical activity behavior in youth with intellectual disability (ID) and identifies limitations in the published research. Keyword searches were used to identify articles from MEDLINE, EBSCOhost Research Databases, Psych Articles, Health Source, and SPORT Discus, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses up to June 2007. Data were extracted from each study using a template of key items that included participant population, study design, data source, and outcome measure. Nineteen manuscripts met the inclusion criteria. Findings were mixed, with various studies indicating that youth with ID have lower, similar, and higher physical activity levels than peers without disabilities. Only two studies provided enough information to determine that some youth with ID were meeting minimum physical activity standards. Significant methodological limitations prohibit clear conclusions regarding physical activity in youth with ID.

Our aim was to examine the relationship between motor skill proficiency and perceptions of competence of children in their first year of school. We also explored gender-based differences.

Objective: To characterize physical activity levels of adults with mental retardation and identify limitations in published research. Data Sources: Key word searches for “mental retardation, ” “intellectual disability, ” “learning disability, ” or “developmental disability” combined with “physical activity” or “habitual exercise” identified articles from MEDLINE, Academic Search Elite, Psych Articles, Health Source, and SPORT Discus. This produced a total of 801 citations. Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Published English-language literature that quantitatively measured physical activity levels of adults with mental retardation was included in this review. Fourteen articles met this criterion. Data Extraction: Characteristics of participants, study design, outcome measures, methods of analyses, and findings in terms of percentages, step counts, and acceleromeler output were extracted. Data Synthesis: Data were synthesized to identify the percentage of adults with mental retardation who met published health-related physical activity criteria and compare them with adults without mental retardation and to examine study limitations. Results: The studies with the greatest rigor indicate that one-third of adults or fewer with mental retardation were sufficiently active to achieve health benefits. However, data are insufficient to determine whether adults with mental retardation are less active than the general community. Conclusions: Future research would be enhanced by including appropriately powered representative samples, by including comparison groups, by validating physical activity questionnaires, and by determining the accuracy of proxy respondents.