Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a skill-based lifestyle intervention for enhancing cooking abilities and physical fitness in young adults with intellectual disabilities.
Jessica C Danon, Lyndsie Koon, Joseph R Sherman and 5 others
PMID 39648079WHAT IT FOUND
Young adults with intellectual disabilities improved cooking independence and lower body strength after a 12-week combined cooking and exercise program.
Participants gained about three independent cooking skills and 25 pounds of leg strength. The single-arm pilot lacked a control group.
Key findings
01Participants significantly improved cooking independence, gaining about 2.8 skills performed independently and 6.2 skills with only a verbal prompt.
02Lower body strength increased by 25 pounds, while upper body strength and aerobic capacity showed no significant change.
03The intervention was feasible with 95% retention and no serious adverse events, though it was a single-arm pilot without a control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This was a single-arm pilot with no control group, so changes cannot be confidently attributed to the intervention rather than time or maturation. The study was unpowered, meaning it lacked the statistical strength to detect meaningful differences reliably. There was no long-term follow-up, so it is unknown if the skills and strength gains were sustained. Participants were required to have transportation and a caregiver, limiting generalizability to those without these supports. The authors did not collect data on home physical activity or dietary intake, so the mechanisms for weight loss and strength gains are unclear.
Declared interests
Dr. Ptomey received personal fees from the Healthy Weight Research Network for Children with ASD and DD, outside the submitted work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the weight loss or strength gains were caused by the intervention. This was a single-arm pilot with no control group, so natural maturation or other unmeasured factors could explain the changes.