Effects Of Badminton Intervention On Healthy-Related Physical Fitness And Executive Function In Adults With Mild Intellectual Disability

Purpose: Adults with mild intellectual disabilities have certain understanding and communication skills,but their sedentary lifestyle,lack of coordination,and lack of opportunities to participate in physical activities lead to obesity or overweight,which is the main reason for the poor level of health and physical fitness of this group,and also an important factor leading to chronic disease or early death of patients with intellectual disabilities in adulthood and old age.In addition,the brain structure and function of people with intellectual disabilities are different from those of healthy people because of partial brain structure abnormalities such as prefrontal lobe damage.Their executive function is far lower than that of healthy people of the same age,which will further cause people with intellectual disabilities to face practical problems such as low intelligence,poor social adaptability,and unable to live independently as ordinary people.Current studies have shown that physical fitness level is positively correlated with individual executive function,suggesting that physical exercise is a necessary means to improve human physical fitness and executive function development.Currently,badminton has reached a consensus on improving the level of physical fitness of mildly different groups,and the improvement effect on human executive function is relatively obvious.However,there are few joint studies on the intervention of badminton in the healthy physical fitness and executive function of adults with mild mental impairment.Based on this,the purpose of this study was to explore the effects of 12-week badminton exercise on the health,physical fitness and executive function of adults with mild intellectual disabilities,in order to enrich the exercise intervention means of people with intellectual disabilities,and to provide practical basis for improving the health,physical fitness and executive function of adults with mild intellectual disabilities.Methods: This randomized controlled study randomly assigned 30 adults with mild intellectual disabilities recruited from Shanghai Sunshine bases in Shanghai(20males and 10 females;mean age,35.80(3.93)years to a badminton intervention program(n = 15,training for 12 weeks,3 times/week,60 min each time)or the control group(n = 15),which received a typical physical education course consisting primarily of gymnastics.Test indicators: The fitness test includes aerobic capacity(two-minute step,heart rate,lung capacity),body composition(height,weight,BMI,waist circumference,hip circumference,waist-hip ratio),muscle strength and endurance(grip strength,standing long jump,sit-up,30 s standing up and sitting),flexibility(seated forward bend,back grip).The executive function tests included inhibition control(Stroop task),working memory(1back task),and cognitive flexibility(Test switching task).Data analysis: Firstly,the difference analysis of pretest data between the experimental group and the control group was carried out through independent sample t test.Secondly,2*2 repeated measure analysis of variance was used to analyze the intra-group and inter-group effects of the two groups of data before and after intervention.Results:(1)The results showed that there were no significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in the pretest scores of each index of healthy physical fitness and each part of executive function task(p > 0.05).(2)The results of 2*2 repeated measures variance showed that the aerobic capacity,body composition,and upper and lower limb strength of the experimental group increased significantly(p < 0.05),while the healthy physical fitness indicators of the control group did not change significantly(p > 0.05).(3)The results of 2*2 repeated measures variance showed that the experimental group had significant improvements in inhibition control and working memory(p < 0.05),while the control group had no significant differences in each task of executive function(p > 0.05).Conclusions:(1)12-week badminton intervention was beneficial in improving healthy physical fitness in adults with mild intellectual disability,as reflected by significant improvements in aerobic capacity,body composition,and upper and lower limb muscle strength.(2)12-week badminton intervention can improve executive function in adults with mild mental retardation,especially in inhibitory control and working memory.