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Description of School-Based Physical Therapy Services and Outcomes for Students with Down Syndrome

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Abstract

Students with Down syndrome (DS) receive school-based physical therapy (SBPT), however little data exists regarding services and outcomes. Using a prospective observational cohort study our aim was to explore SBPT activities and interventions, and students’ goal achievement of 46 students with DS, tracked by 17 physical therapists (PTs). PTs provided on average 24.0 min/week direct service and 11.6 min/week services on behalf of the student. The most frequent activities employed were physical education/recreation, mobility, and sitting/standing/transitions. The most frequent interventions implemented were neuromuscular, mobility, and musculoskeletal. Although students individually met 69.5% of their primary outcome goals, their achievement could not be explained by total minutes of either direct and minutes on behalf of SBPT, nor minutes spent in most frequent activity.

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Acknowledgments

This article is a product of the PT COUNTS study which was supported by the Institutes of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, Grant R324A110204.

Funding

This study was supported by the Institutes of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, Grant Number R324A110204.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Glen E. Neal

  2. Wilkes County Schools, 613 Cherry Street, North Wilkesboro, NC, 28659, USA

    Glen E. Neal

  3. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Susan K. Effgen

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Health Sciences Center, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Sandra Arnold, Jonathan Baldwin & Lynn M. Jeffries

Authors
  1. Glen E. Neal
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  2. Susan K. Effgen
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  3. Sandra Arnold
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  4. Jonathan Baldwin
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  5. Lynn M. Jeffries
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Contributions

GEN participated in develo** the idea for the research article, conducted data analysis, writing the article from doctoral thesis for DSc degree, revision of edits, and proofing the final manuscript. SKE participated in develo** the idea for the research article, conducted data collection for the PT COUNTS study, writing, providing additional edits during revision, and proofing subsequent submissions. SA participated in writing, providing additional edits during revision, and proofing subsequent submissions. JB participated in data analysis, and provided additional edits during revision. LMJ participated in develo** the idea for the research article, conducted data collection in the PT COUNTS study, participated in data analysis, writing, providing additional edits during revision process, and proofing the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glen E. Neal.

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Conflict of interest

Glen E. Neal, MPT, DSc, PCS declares that he has no conflict of interest. Susan K. Effgen, PT, PhD, FAPTA declares that she has not conflict of interest. Lynn M. Jeffries, PT, DPT, PhD, PCS declares that she has not conflict of interest. Sandra Arnold, PT, PhD declares that she has no conflict of interest. Jonathan Baldwin, MS, CNMT, RT(CT) declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Neal, G.E., Effgen, S.K., Arnold, S. et al. Description of School-Based Physical Therapy Services and Outcomes for Students with Down Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 4019–4029 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04109-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04109-7

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