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Fundamental movement skills, physical fitness and physical activity among A ustralian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Author(s) -
Hulsegge Gerben,
Henschke Nicholas,
McKay Damien,
Chaitow Jeffrey,
West Kerry,
Broderick Carolyn,
SinghGrewal Davinder
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12733
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , physical fitness , physical therapy , test (biology) , physical activity , juvenile , logistic regression , arthritis , gerontology , psychiatry , paleontology , biology , genetics
Aim To describe fundamental movement skills ( FMS ), physical fitness and level of physical activity among A ustralian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis ( JIA ) and compare this with healthy peers. Methods Children aged 6–16 years with JIA were recruited from hospital rheumatology clinics and private rheumatology rooms in S ydney, A ustralia. All children attended an assessment day, where FMS were assessed by a senior paediatric physiotherapist, physical fitness was assessed using the multistage 20‐metre shuttle run test, and physical activity and physical and psychosocial well‐being were assessed with questionnaires. These results were compared with age‐ and gender‐matched peers from the NSW S chools P hysical A ctivity and N utrition S urvey and the H ealth of Y oung V ictorians S tudy using logistic regression analysis. Results Twenty‐eight children with JIA participated in this study. There were no differences in the proportion of children who had mastered FMS between children with JIA and their healthy peers ( P > 0.05). However, there was a trend for children with JIA to have poorer physical fitness and be less physically active than healthy peers. Parents of children with JIA indicated more physical and psychosocial impairments among their children and themselves compared with parents of healthy children ( P < 0.05). Conclusions This is the first study in A ustralia to compare FMS , physical activity and fitness in children with JIA and their peers. While older children with JIA appear to have poorer physical fitness and physical activity levels than their peers, there is no difference in FMS .