Muscle strength, aerobic capacity and physical activity in independent ambulating children with lumbosacral spina bifida.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study investigates deficits and associations in muscle strength, 6-minute walking distance (6MWD), aerobic capacity (VO(2peak)), and physical activity (PA) in independent ambulatory children with lumbosacral spina bifida.

Method: Twenty-tree children participated (13 boys, 10 girls). Mean age (SD): 10.

Exercise tolerance in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis after autologous SCT.

Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) often have significant physical impairment. A minority is unresponsive to combinations of medications, and a possible treatment of resistant JIA is intense immunosuppression followed by autologous hematopoietic SCT (ASCT). Children resistant to conventional therapy have a poor prognosis with regard to long-term outcome of joint function, exercise tolerance and quality of life.

Extremes in vitamin K status of bone are related to bone ultrasound properties in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: Osteopenia is a common complication of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). In adults, low bone density and increased fracture risk are associated with low vitamin K status of bone. The vitamin K-dependent protein osteocalcin plays an important role in bone metabolism.

Aerobic capacity in children with hemophilia.

Objective: To determine whether aerobic capacity is normal in boys with different types of hemophilia compared with healthy peers and whether the level of aerobic capacity correlates with the amount of physical activity, joint health status, muscle strength, and anthropometrics.

Study Design: 47 patients (mean [SD] age, 12.9 [3.

Six-minute walk test in children with chronic conditions.

Objectives: The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is a frequently used indicator of functional exercise capacity. The goals of this study were to compare the 6-minute walk performance of three paediatric patient groups with that of healthy peers, to assess differences between published reference values and to investigate which anthropometric characteristics best predict 6-minute walk performance.

Methods: 47 children with haemophilia (mean (SD) age 12.

Exercise therapy in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Background: Exercise therapy is considered an important component of the treatment of arthritis. The efficacy of exercise therapy has been reviewed in adults with rheumatoid arthritis but not in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Objectives: To assess the effects of exercise therapy on functional ability, quality of life and aerobic capacity in children with JIA.

Symptomatic asymmetry in the first six months of life: differential diagnosis.

Asymmetry in infancy is a clinical condition with a wide variation in appearances (shape, posture, and movement), etiology, localization, and severity. The prevalence of an asymmetric positional preference is 12% of all newborns during the first six months of life. The asymmetry is either idiopathic or symptomatic.

Motor performance and functional ability in preschool- and early school-aged children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To describe the level of motor performance and functional skills in young children with JIA.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study in 56 preschool-aged (PSA) and early school- aged children (ESA) with JIA according to ILAR classification, motor performance was measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID2) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC). Functional skills were measured with the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI).

Responsiveness of exercise parameters in children with inflammatory myositis.

Objective: Juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) is an inflammatory myopathy in which the immune system targets the microvasculature of the skeletal muscle and skin, leading to significant muscle weakness and exercise intolerance, although the precise etiology is unknown. The goal of this study was to investigate the changes in exercise capacity in children with myositis during active and inactive disease periods and to study the responsiveness of exercise parameters.

Methods: Thirteen children with juvenile DM (mean+/-SD age 11.

Physical training in children with osteogenesis imperfecta.

Objective: To study the effects of a physical training program on exercise capacity, muscle force, and subjective fatigue levels in patients with mild to moderate forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI).

Study Design: Thirty-four children with OI type I or IV were randomly assigned to either a 12-week graded exercise program or care as usual for 3 months. Exercise capacity and muscle force were studied; subjective fatigue, perceived competence, and health-related quality of life were secondary outcomes.

Exercise programs for children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review of the literature.

The purpose of this literature review, regarding all types of exercise programs focusing on cardiovascular fitness (aerobic and anaerobic capacity) and/or lower-extremity muscle strength in children with cerebral palsy (CP), was to address the following questions: (1) what exercise programs focusing on muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness, or a combination are studied, and what are the effects of these exercise programs in children with CP? (2) What are the outcome measures that were used to assess the effects of the exercise programs? (3) What is the methodological quality of the studies?We systematically searched the literature in electronic databases up to October 2006 and included a total of 20 studies that were evaluated. The methodological quality of the included trials was low. However, it seems that children with CP may benefit from improved exercise programs that focused on lower-extremity muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness, or a combination.

Exercise training program in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of an 8-month training program with standardized exercises on aerobic and anaerobic capacity in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

Design: Pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial with blinded outcome evaluation between July 2005 and October 2006.

Setting: Participants were recruited from 4 schools for special education in the Netherlands.

Exercise limitation in patients with Fontan circulation: a review.

The aim of the current literature study was to perform a literature review of the factors contributing to exercise limitation and physiological response to exercise in patients with Fontan circulation. In patients with Fontan circulation, peak oxygen uptake ranged from about 14.4 to 32.

Aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: To compare the aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with healthy controls, to determine if there were differences based on disease onset type, and to examine the relationship between aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity in children with JIA.

Methods: Sixty-two patients with JIA (mean +/- SD age 11.9 +/- 2.

Aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity in adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: To examine the aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity in adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) compared with age- and sex-matched healthy individuals, and to assess associations between disease-related variables and aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity.

Methods: Of 25 patients enrolled in a JIA transition outpatient clinic, 22 patients with JIA were included in this study (mean +/- SD age 17.1 +/- 0.

Exercise prescription for patients with a Fontan circulation: current evidence and future directions.

It is well documented that children with a Fontan circulation have a reduced exercise capacity. One of the modalities to improve exercise capacity might be exercise training. We performed a systematic literature review on the effects of exercise training in patients with a Fontan circulation.

Reliability for running tests for measuring agility and anaerobic muscle power in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

Purpose: We investigated reliability, construct validity, and feasibility of two sprint tests for children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Methods: Twenty-six children with CP participated (7-18 years of age; Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] level I or II). On different occasions, the 10 x 5-Meter Sprint Test and the Muscle Power Sprint Test were scored by different assessors.

Exercise testing in children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.

The objective of this study was to evaluate exercise capacity in children and adolescents diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). We examined 20 patients (12 girls and 8 boys; mean age 14.9 +/- 3.

Cardiopulmonary exercise capacity, muscle strength, and physical activity in children and adolescents with achondroplasia.

Objective: To study in children with achondroplasia the response to exercise and muscle strength compared with healthy peers and to describe the relation between exercise capacity, anthropometric factors, and physical activity.

Study Design: Patients (7 boys and 10 girls; mean age, 11.8 +/- 3.

Physical function and fitness in long-term survivors of childhood leukaemia.

Objective: To evaluate the physical function and fitness in survivors of childhood leukaemia 5-6 years after cessation of chemotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Thirteen children (six boys and seven girls; mean age 15.5 years) who were treated for leukaemia were studied 5-6 years after cessation of therapy.

Eccentric overload training in patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy: a systematic review.

Background: Eccentric overload training seems to be a promising conservative intervention in patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy. The efficacy of eccentric overload training on the outcome measures of pain and physical functioning are not exactly clear.

Study Design: Systematic review of the literature.

Exercise tolerance in children and adolescents with musculoskeletal pain in joint hypermobility and joint hypomobility syndrome.

Objectives: Musculoskeletal pain is a common complaint in a pediatric health care practice, but exercise tolerance has never been described in detail in these children. Our objectives for this study were to evaluate the maximal exercise capacity, including peak heart rate and oxygen consumption, of children with pain-related musculoskeletal problems, particularly in children with (symptomatic) generalized joint hypermobility and hypomobility, during a bicycle ergometry test to exhaustion; to evaluate muscle strength, bone mineral density, and sports activities in these children and to associate these observations with exercise capacity; and to compare these results with reference values.

Methods: Thirty-two children (mean age: 12.

Physical fitness, functional ability and quality of life in children with severe haemophilia: a pilot study.

In the Netherlands comparable levels of sports-participation between persons with haemophilia and healthy controls have been reported. This raises the question if children with haemophilia under the currently available prophylaxis do reach comparable levels of physical fitness and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as their healthy peers. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of physical fitness, functional ability and quality of life and to determine the feasibility to safely test the exercise capacity of boys with severe haemophilia A.

Reliability and validity of data for 2 newly developed shuttle run tests in children with cerebral palsy.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of data obtained with 2 newly developed shuttle run tests (SRT-I and SRT-II) to measure aerobic power in children with cerebral palsy (CP) who were classified at level I or II on the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). The SRT-I was developed for children at GMFCS level I, and the SRT-II was developed for children at GMFCS level II.

Subjects: Twenty-five children and adolescents with CP (10 female, 15 male; mean age = 11.

Examining the psychometric characteristics of the Dutch childhood health assessment questionnaire: room for improvement?

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of the childhood health assessment questionnaire-disability index (CHAQ-DI). Seventy-six patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), age range 4.8-15.