the impact and long-term effects of exercises and sports games on motor ability and quality of life in children with intellectual impairment: a randomized controlled trial

Background: children with intellectual impairment have impaired or delayed development of motor skills due to impaired mental function. in the present study, the effect and durability of exercise and sports games on the motor abilities and quality of life (qol) of children with intellectual impairment were investigated.methods: this randomized controlled study assessed sixty boys aged 8-12 years with mild intellectual impairment in three groups: an exercise group (aerobic and resistance training), a sports games group (basketball and futsal), and a control group, for 8 weeks. motor abilities were assessed using the 4x9 m shuttle run, ball-catching against a wall, stork balance test, and the timed up and go (tug) test, while bmi and qol were evaluated using the pediatric quality of life questionnaire (pedsql-parent proxy report) questionnaire. data were analyzed using spss, with significance set at p < 0.05.results: significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in post-test results for motor ability and qol (p < 0.05). during follow-up, static balance (p = 0.001) and qol (p < 0.05) also showed significant improvements in the experimental groups compared to the control group. moreover, coordination improved significantly in the sports games group compared to the control group (p = 0.016), while agility improved in the exercise group (p = 0.006). follow-up analysis revealed significant differences in overall qol, psychosocial health, and school functioning between the exercise and sports games groups (p = 0.001). intra-group analysis showed significant differences in motor abilities (except for bmi) and qol in both experimental groups and at all-time points (p = 0.001).conclusion: the interventions demonstrated positive effects on most variables of motor ability and qol. the exercise group showed superior improvements in motor abilities, while the sports games group exhibited greater enhancements in qol. integrating both types of interventions may yield more comprehensive benefits.