Introduction:
The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of strength–balance training on body composition, motor skills, and behavioral disorders in trainable women with intellectual disabilities.
Method:
The participants of the study included 30 trainable women with intellectual disabilities (age: 25.51 ± 3.84 years; weight: 63.25 ± 8.06 kg), who were selected purposefully and through convenience sampling. They were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15) and a control group (n = 15). The balance training consisted of coordination and balance exercises. Independent t-tests were used to analyze between-group differences, and paired t-tests were used to analyze within-group changes at a significance level of P ≤ 0.05.
Results:
The findings of the present study indicated that there were no significant changes in the participants' BMI (p = 0.281) and body fat percentage (p = 0.112). However, significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in static balance (p = 0.001) and dynamic balance (p = 0.000). A significant improvement was also found in running motor performance (p = 0.001). Regarding behavioral disorders, significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in distractibility (p = 0.041) and restlessness (p = 0.007).
Conclusion:
The results of the present study demonstrated that six weeks of strength–balance training led to improvements in static and dynamic balance, reductions in behavioral disorders, and enhancement in running motor performance among women with intellectual disabilities.