Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36101998›Full record

ArticleJournal of intellectual disability research : JIDR2022

A 12-week exercise programme has a positive effect on everyday executive function in young people with Down syndrome: a pilot non-randomised controlled trial.

N Shields, N Mizzi, K Buhlert-Smith, A Strydom, L Prendergast, D R Hocking

Registry-linked trialAbstract readControlled Clinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07703306 (The Feasibility and Acceptability of Translating FitSkills to the Irish Context to Facilitate Physical Activity Participation for Young People With Childhood-onset Physical Disability), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07703306 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

The Feasibility and Acceptability of Translating FitSkills to the Irish Context to Facilitate Physical Activity Participation for Young People With Childhood-onset Physical Disability

TypeinterventionalSponsorRoyal College of Surgeons, IrelandRan2026 to 2027Enrolled25ConditionsPhysical DisabilityArmsGym based exercise
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Cortical microglia dynamics are conserved during voluntary wheel running.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2024
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Psychometric properties of inhibitory control measures among youth with Down syndrome.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2023
    Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

N ShieldsDepartment of Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Prosthetics and Orthotics, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6840-2378
N MizziDevelopmental Neuromotor & Cognition Lab, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
K Buhlert-SmithDepartment of Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Prosthetics and Orthotics, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
A StrydomDepartment of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2502-6704
L PrendergastDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
D R HockingDevelopmental Neuromotor & Cognition Lab, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExercise has the potential to reduce cognitive decline in people with Down syndrome by maximising their cognitive function. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of regular exercise on cognitive functioning in young people with Down syndrome.

methodPeople with Down syndrome were eligible if aged between 13 and 35 years and enrolled to participate in an exercise programme (called FitSkills). The intervention was a 12-week community-based exercise programme completed with a student mentor. Outcomes were assessed before (week 0) and immediately after (week 13) the intervention. Executive functioning (planning, response inhibition, attention shifting) was assessed using Tower of London, Sustained Attention to Response Task, CANTAB Intra-extra Dimensional Set Shift Test, Cognitive Scale for Down Syndrome, and Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Working memory was assessed using the CANTAB Paired Associates Learning task, and information processing speed was assessed using the Motor Screening Task. Outcomes were analysed using ANCOVA with the baseline measure as the covariate.

resultsTwenty participants (9 women; mean age 23.6 ± 6.6 years) enrolled. Between-group differences, in favour of the experimental group, were found for the global executive composite score of the BRIEF (mean difference -4.77 units, 95% CI -9.30 to -0.25). There were no between group differences for any other outcome measured.

conclusionParticipation in a 12-week exercise programme was effective in improving everyday executive functions in young people with Down syndrome. These preliminary findings need to be confirmed in future randomised controlled trials of community-based exercise with larger sample sizes.

Indexed as

Down SyndromeExecutive FunctionAdolescentAdultCognitionExerciseExercise TherapyFemaleHumansYoung Adultcommunityexecutive functionintellectual disabilitypeer mentorphysical activityworking memory

Identifiers

PMID36101998
PMCPMC9825892

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.