The Effect of Balance Exercises on Static and Dynamic Balance of the Mentally Retarded Female Students

Abstract

<br />Mentally retarded children have lower levels of physical fitness in comparison with normal children of the same age. As balance exercises can be a key to solve this problem, this study aimed at investigating the effect of balance exercises on static and dynamic balance of mentally retarded students. In this semi-experimental study, 32 mentally retarded female students in Yazd city were assigned to two groups: experimental and control. SEBT test, Stroke test and Sharp and Romberg test were used to measure the balance. Before and after 8 weeks of balance exercises for the experimental group, balance test was conducted for both groups. An independent t test was used to analyze the data. The findings showed that after the balance exercises, the dynamic and static balance on one foot improved significantly in experimental group (<em>P</em>≤0.05) in comparison with the control group in posttest in comparison with the pretest. But, static balance on both feet had no significant improvement in any of the two groups (<em>P</em>≥0.05). It can be concluded that 8 weeks of balance exercises influenced the improvement of the dynamic and static balance of the mentally retarded students; therefore, such exercises are recommended as a part of physical education course of the mentally retarded people.