Investigation of the Relationship between Physical Activity and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents with Down Syndrome During the Covid-19 Pandemic

There has been a prevalent decrease in physical activity and mental health due to the Covid-19 pandemic in societies which has also affected people with Down syndrome. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the level of physical activity and the mental health of children and adolescents with Down syndrome during the period of the epidemic of covid-19.

In this descriptive-correlation study that was conducted in 2021, among the exceptional schools of fifteen provinces of the country, the number of 192 girls (age: 11.98±3.35 years) and 192 boys (age: 12.30±3.16 years) from people with Down syndrome were selected by available and targeted sampling method. After the necessary arrangements, standard physical activity and mental health questionnaires were provided to the parents of children and adolescents. Data were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient and Mann- Whitney U test with SPSS version 25 software.

According to the findings, the physical activity level of boys and girls was below average and unfavorable. Also, in the psychological dimension and based on the four subscales, it was found that in both sexes, there were no disorders related to anxiety, general health status, and depression, and only in the category of social dysfunction, the condition of people was unfavorable. Also, physical activity had a negative and significant relationship with social dysfunction in girls (P=0.001, r=- 0.24) and boys (P=0.014, r=- 0.17).

The results related to the comparison of mental health categories and physical activity level showed that there is no difference between boys and girls with Down syndrome. Only in the dimension of social dysfunction; the disorder of boys was more than that of girls, which probably decreases with the increase in the level of physical activity.