Heart rate recovery after the 10-m incremental shuttle walking test in older adults with intellectual disabilities.
A 1-minute heart-rate recovery of 12 beats or less signals low fitness in older adults with ID, especially Down syndrome.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Oppewal et al. (2014) watched heart rate after a simple walking test in older adults with intellectual disability.
They used the 10-m shuttle walk. After the test they checked how fast the heart slowed in one minute.
The team noted who had Down syndrome and how severe the ID was.
What they found
About one in three adults needed more than 12 beats to recover. Slower recovery was normal for them.
Adults with Down syndrome or profound ID took even longer to calm down.
A drop of 12 beats or less in 60 seconds flagged low fitness.
How this fits with other research
Oppewal et al. (2013) review shows most people with ID start life unfit and get worse with age. The new HRR cut-off gives a quick way to spot the problem early.
Mendonca et al. (2013) found 12 weeks of aerobic plus weights sped recovery in adults with Down syndrome. So slow HRR can improve with training.
Andrews et al. (2024) tried sprint intervals in similar adults but saw no change in recovery speed. Their program was shorter and harder, showing training type matters.
Why it matters
You can check 1-minute heart-rate recovery with a watch and two fingers right after any brisk activity. If the drop is 12 beats or less, treat it as a red flag for low fitness. Plan extra practice trials before maximal tests, and remember clients with Down syndrome or profound ID will need more time to recover. Use the simple number to start conversations about daily movement and to track progress after you add exercise.
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Join Free →Count pulse for 60 seconds right after a brisk walk; note if the drop is 12 beats or less and plan more movement breaks.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise is an independent predictor for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. To investigate the usefulness of HRR in cardiorespiratory exercise testing in older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), the aims of this study were (a) to assess HRR in older adults with ID after the 10-m incremental shuttle walking test (ISWT) and (b) its association with personal characteristics (gender, age, distance walked on the ISWT, level of ID, genetic syndrome causing ID, autism, behavioral problems, and peak heart rate (HRpeak)). HRR was assessed after the 10-m incremental shuttle walking test in 300 older adults (>50 years) with borderline to profound ID. HRR was defined as the change from HRpeak during the ISWT to heart rate measured after 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 min of passive recovery. The largest decrease in heart rate was in the first minute of recovery leveling off toward the fifth minute of recovery. An abnormal HHR (≤12 bpm) was seen in 36.1% of the participants with Down syndrome (DS) and in 30.7% of the participants with ID by other causes. After the fifth minute the heart rates of 69.4% of the participants with DS and of 61.4% of the participants with ID by other causes returned to resting levels. HRpeak and distance walked on the ISWT were positively related to all HRR measures. More severe ID was negatively related and having DS positively related to HRR after 3-5 min of recovery. The other characteristics were not significantly associated to HRR. HRR is a potentially useful outcome measure in cardiorespiratory fitness testing of older adults with ID with a direct, objective, and non-invasive measurement. Further research is needed to identify the relation between HRR and adverse health outcomes in this population.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.12.006