Remote Exercise for Adults with Down Syndrome

ABSTRACT Adults with Down syndrome are less physically active than their typically developed peers. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of delivering moderate-to-vigorous exercise sessions, led by a trained health educator using real-time video conferencing, to groups of young adults with Down syndrome in their homes. Participants were randomized to 30-min group exercise sessions either one or two times a week delivered on an iPad mini tablet computer using the Zoom video conferencing application, and were asked to attend individual support/education sessions once a week using FaceTime® on the iPad, for 12 wk. Minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during all group sessions were assessed using a Fitbit Charge HR activity/heart rate monitor. Participants were also asked to complete weekly homework assignments involving MVPA. Twenty-seven participants ( n = 14, one session per week; n = 13, two sessions per week) with a mean age of 27.9 ± 7.1 yr (~41% female) enrolled in and completed the 12-wk intervention. Attendance at group exercise and individual support/education sessions did not differ significantly between those randomized to one session per week (exercise sessions, 89.9% ± 8.8%; support/education sessions, 81.2% ± 18.7%) or two sessions per week (exercise sessions, 88.8% ± 7.7% ( P = 0.79); support/education sessions, 86.0% ± 20.9% ( P = 0.87)). Participants averaged 27.7 ± 5.7 min per session of MVPA with no significant difference between the one- (26.6 ± 3.0 min per session) and two-session-per-week groups (28.8 ± 7.7 min per session, P = 0.16). The completion rate for homework assignments did not differ significantly between the one- (21.4% ± 26.3%) and two-session-per-week groups (37.7% ± 21.7%, P = 0.28). Exercise delivered by group video conferencing may be a feasible and potentially effective approach for increasing MVPA in adults with Down syndrome.