Abstract

OZOLS ROSALES, María Antonieta; TAMES FONSECA, Jeffry; CORRALES ARAYA, María Antonieta  and  MONCADA-JIMENEZ, José. Effect of Exercise in Aquatic Environments on Physical Fitness in People with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review. MHSalud [online]. 2023, vol.20, n.1, pp.68-78. ISSN 1659-097X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/mhs.20-1.7.

Exercise programs in aquatic environments guarantee a motivating and fun environment in which people with intellectual disabilities can carry out sports or recreational activities in an accessible way, which has a positive effect on their physical condition. Purpose: the objective of the systematic review was to know the effects of aquatic exercise on physical fitness in people with intellectual disabilities. Methodology: To achieve the purpose of the study, a literature search was conducted in the Sport Discus, Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed databases, whose publications cover from 2009 to 2018. As selection criteria, these publications had to specify the type of exercise, the components of a load of training, the type of disability presented by the study subjects, and the duration of the intervention that should be greater than four weeks. Results: Only five studies met the selection criteria. the studies in which they applied swimming interruption and combined exercise showed that components of physical fitness important for health were improved, as well as the development of activities of daily living. It was concluded that studies with greater methodological rigor are required to clarify the effect of exercise in aquatic environments on the components of physical fitness in people with intellectual disabilities.

Keywords : disability; swimming; physical fitness; exercise.

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