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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Social Pediatrics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1463838
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinical Trials: Design, Methods, and Analysis View all 3 articles

Pedals Possible: A Pilot Study of Adaptive Cycling as a School-Based Rehabilitation Intervention for Students with Disabilities

Provisionally accepted
Julia S. Brennan Julia S. Brennan 1*Everette Keller Everette Keller 1Elizabeth M Humanitzki Elizabeth M Humanitzki 1Jessica Nichole Wade Jessica Nichole Wade 2Chad Catledge Chad Catledge 3Stephen Houston Stephen Houston 4Jonathan Beall Jonathan Beall 1Cynthia Dodds Cynthia Dodds 1
  • 1 Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, United States
  • 2 Lancaster County School District, Lancaster, United States
  • 3 Lancaster County Breakfast Rotary Club, Lancaster, United States
  • 4 Pedals Possible, Greenville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Pediatric therapists in school-based practice can incorporate exercise promotion through adaptive cycling for children with disabilities who experience high levels of sedentary behavior and low levels of moderate to vigorous activity. (1) Methods: The impacts of an adaptive cycling pilot program for children with disabilities were investigated through a community-based participatory study. During an eight-week intervention, students had a goal of riding adaptive cycles three times a week for twenty minutes. Using a pre-and post-test design, primary outcomes included individualized goal attainment scaling (GAS) linked to students' individualized education plans (IEP) and the 6-minute cycling test (6MCT) measuring cycling distance. Secondary outcomes included cycling duration over time, assistance levels for pedaling and steering, a 'happiness scale', and overall program satisfaction of parents and teachers. To prevent harm, pain behavior was examined using the Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) Results: Cycling had a positive impact on students with disabilities. No increased levels of pain behavior or adverse events were reported. Individual GAS T-score means significantly improved to 0.44 and program effectiveness achieved a T-score value of 50.53. The mean distance of 6MCT significantly increased from 654.88 feet to 880.5 feet. Secondary measures also documented significant improvement. Parents and teachers reported high overall satisfaction.Discussion: Adaptive cycling can incorporate needed physical activity into the school day and also support the achievement of IEP goals, physical activity capacity, and emotional happiness. Scaling adaptive cycling programs for children with disabilities should be considered an excellent opportunity for educational growth, health, and well-being.

    Keywords: Adaptive Cycling1, School-Based Rehabilitation2, Goal Attainment Scaling3, developmental delay4, Autism5, physical activity6, Pediatric Rehabilitation7 Community-Based Participatrory Research8

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Brennan, Keller, Humanitzki, Wade, Catledge, Houston, Beall and Dodds. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Julia S. Brennan, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.