A review of balance and gait capacities in relation to falls in persons with intellectual disability.
Balance and gait are lifelong weak spots in ID, but targeted exercise and smart task design can shrink falls and boost mobility.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Enkelaar et al. (2012) searched every paper on balance and walking in people with intellectual disability.
They pulled together what we know about falls, weak muscles, and wobbly joints across the life span.
The team looked at kids, adults, and elders to see how balance problems show up and if training helps.
What they found
Almost every study agreed: balance and gait stay poor in ID and few people get tested.
Yet the papers that did train these skills saw clear gains, so the deficits are fixable.
The authors say we need more data, but exercise is already worth starting.
How this fits with other research
Takahashi et al. (2023) ran a meta-analysis and put a number on the problem: kids with ID lag more than a full standard deviation in every basic motor skill.
Cruz-Montecinos et al. (2024) added that when clients must walk and think at the same time, their gait falls apart faster than peers, giving you a safety red flag.
Zhang et al. (2021) and de Leeuw et al. (2024) prove the fix works: a year of semi-structured play or even short exergaming blocks lifts motor scores, backing Lotte’s claim that training helps.
Why it matters
You now have a roadmap: screen balance early, expect bigger stumbles during dual-task work, and start evidence-based exercise.
Use fun digital games or simple treadmill plus peer modeling to turn poor balance into a teachable skill and cut fall risk at any age.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Limitations in mobility are common in persons with intellectual disabilities (ID). As balance and gait capacities are key aspects of mobility, the prevalence of balance and gait problems is also expected to be high in this population. The objective of this study was to critically review the available literature on balance and gait characteristics in persons with ID. Furthermore, the consequences of balance and gait problems in relation to falls were studied, as well as the trainability of balance and gait in persons with ID. The systematic literature search identified 48 articles to be included in this review. The literature consistently reports that balance and gait capacities are affected in persons with ID compared to their age-matched peers. These problems start at a young age and remain present during the entire lifespan of persons with ID, with a relatively early occurrence of age-related decline. From these results a conceptual model was suggested in which the development of balance and gait capacities in the ID population across the life span are compared to the general population. Regarding the second objective, our review showed that, although the relationship of balance and gait problems with falls has not yet been thoroughly investigated in persons with ID, there is some preliminary evidence that these aspects are also important in the ID population. Finally, this review demonstrates that balance and gait are potentially trainable in persons with ID. These results suggest that falls might be prevented with ID-specific exercise interventions.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.08.028