title: A power-assisted exercise intervention in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities living in a residential facility: a pilot randomised controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a twenty-week power-assisted exercise intervention in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of this intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pilot randomised controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  A large-scale twenty-four-hour residential facility in the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-seven persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in the intervention group received a power-assisted exercise intervention three times a week for thirty minutes over a twenty-week period. Participants in the control group received care as usual.
  
  
  METHODS
  Trial feasibility by recruitment process and outcomes completion rates; intervention feasibility by programme compliance rates; potential outcomes by functional abilities, alertness, body composition, muscle tone, oxygen saturation, cardiovascular fitness and quality of life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven participants were recruited ( M age = 32.1, SD = 14.6) and were randomly allocated to intervention ( n = 19) and control ( n = 18) groups. Programme compliance rates ranged from 54.2% to 97.7% with a mean (SD) of 81.5% (13.4). Oxygen saturation significantly increased in the intervention group. Standardised effect sizes on the difference between groups in outcome varied between 0.02 and 0.62.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The power-assisted exercise intervention and the trial design were feasible and acceptable to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities living in a residential facility. This pilot study suggests that the intervention improves oxygen saturation, but further implementation with the aim of improving other outcomes should be considered with caution.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Special Needs Education and Youth Care, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Leontien Wm
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Bossink
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Special Needs Education and Youth Care, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Annette Aj
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: van der Putten
authors.affiliation: 2 Applied Sciences in Health Care and Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, the Netherlands.|3 Royal Dutch Visio De Brink, Vries, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aly
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waninge
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Special Needs Education and Youth Care, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vlaskamp
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012112:Residential Facilities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Profound intellectual and multiple disabilities; motor activation; motor intervention; power-assisted exercise; randomised controlled trial