Barriers to physical activity and exercise for adults with intellectual disabilities

There is a higher prevalence of sedentary behavior among adults with intellectual disability (ID) compared to the general population. The majority of research on this topic has focused on assessing physical activity (PA) levels and there are few studies addressing barriers to activity in this population segment. If these barriers are not clearly understood, it will be difficult to develop and implement intervention programs. A systematic research review on these barriers was conducted using combinations of the following search terms: intellectual disabil*, mental retard*, exercise and physical activity in the databases EBSCO, PsycINFO, Social Science Citation Index, CINAHL Plus, and SPORTDiscus. Reference lists from each reviewed article were also examined. Original research articles published after 1997 with primary intention of identifying PA determinants that included age 18+ adults with ID were included. In total, 388 citations were returned, after screening for repeated articles and inclusion criteria, 6 were included in the analysis. The primary barriers that reoccurred throughout the papers were transportation issues, financial limitations and lack of awareness of options. Other salient barriers included negative supports from caregivers and authority figures (e.g. teachers, coaches and parents) and lack of clear policies for engaging in regular activity in residential and day service programs. Although the research is limited, there are clear barriers to PA to target. Of primary importance is the development of policies among agencies that serve individuals with ID that could help minimize transportation, financial and educational barriers, which are more modifiable than negative supports.