Clinical trial NCT06405854: Coordination-based Exercise Intervention in Preschool Children
Official title: Effect of Coordination-based Exercise Intervention on Physical Fitness, Motor Competence and Executive Function in Preschool Children
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Motor Skills
Balance
Fitness
Preschool
Lead sponsor: Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Namik Kemal University
name: Istanbul Aydın University
name: Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University
First posted: 2024-05-09
Enrollment: 44
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 4
Maximum age (years): 6
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Randomized Controlled Trial
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study intended to assess the impact of coordination-based exercise interventions on physical fitness, motor competence, and executive function among preschoolers aged 4 to 6 years.

Detailed description: Forty-four preschool children (22 boys and 22 girls), with a mean age of 5.90 years (SD = 0.28). Participants will be randomly assigned to an Exercise Group (n = 19) or a Control Group (n = 25). The Exercise Group will engage in 20-minute, fun, and game-based sessions focusing on foundational movement patterns appropriate for preschoolers, conducted twice weekly over eight weeks. In contrast, the Control Group continued with their regular unstructured school activities. Physical fitness was evaluated using agility tests, static-dynamic balance, and vertical jumping. Motor competence was assessed through the KTK3+ test battery, and inhibition control was measured using the Go/No-Go test. The study concluded that coordination-based exercises, structured around fun and engaging activities suitable for preschoolers, potentially enhance physical fitness, motor skills, and executive functions. These areas are essential for early childhood development, suggesting that integrating such exercises into preschool activities could be beneficial. However, specific results regarding the effectiveness of the interventions on the tested competencies would need to be detailed to confirm these hypothesized benefits fully. The study highlights the importance of structured physical activity in early childhood education settings for promoting essential developmental skills.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* typically preschoolers between the aged between 4-6 years old
* not taking any medication
* absence of cardiovascular, neurological, orthopedic, or psychiatric illnesses.

Exclusion Criteria:

• children with physical disabilities or other conditions that might significantly impact their ability to participate in the physical activity interventions might be excluded,

Primary outcomes:
measure: Motor competence
timeFrame: at baseline and end of 8 week
measure: Inhibition control (IC)
timeFrame: at baseline and end of 8 week
measure: agility test
timeFrame: at baseline and end of 8 week
measure: Countermovement jump test
timeFrame: at baseline and end of 8 week
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Riyadh
country: Saudi Arabia
facility: Monira Aldhahi
Study officials:
affiliation: College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
name: Monira I. Aldhahi
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: