Abstract des Autors

Mentally disabled subjects active in various sports are considered in Italy as "not competitive" by law, on the basis that their effort should be submaximal even during competitions. As few literature is available on this topic, aim of our work was to verify if the physical exertion during competition of subjects with mental retardation is effectively submaximal, as generally supposed. To this aim, heart rate was continuously measured before, during and after athletic and soccer competitions in 10 subjects (9 oligophrenics; 1 Down syndrome). During competition-field recordings, peak heart rates were near, and in some case higher, to the theoretical maximal heart rate value, which suggests a high physical and emotional involvement of these subjects. During laboratory tests, peak oxygen uptake and physical fitness variables were lower than those obtained in healthy controls. In conclusion, unlike to the common opinion, competition effort in mentally disabled people is maximal. Thus these subjects have to be properly trained in order to increase their fitness level. Moreover, we suggest to evaluate even the mentally disabled people with a more accurate medical examination, as required by law for healthy subjects involved in competitive sports. Verf.-Referat