{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T02:48:51Z","timestamp":1792550931181,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,14]],"date-time":"2022-02-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644796800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Commission","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["G.A. 2018-2512"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["G.A. 2018-2512"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In children, motor competence (MC) and the amount of physical activity are tightly interconnected. In adults with Down syndrome (DS), MC has been poorly addressed, resulting in a limited understanding of the possibility to improve MC over time. Here, we aim to: (1) investigate MC in adults with DS by comparing them with a group of typically developed peers and (2) verify the effect of an adapted karate program on MC. Adults with DS (DSG; n = 57) and typically developed adults (TDG; n = 21) performed the Test of Gross Motor Development version 3 (TGMD-3). The total TGMD-3 score (TOTTGMD-3), the locomotor (LOCTGMD-3), and object control (OBJTGMD-3) scores were computed. After a 40 week adapted karate program, DSG (n = 37) underwent the post-training TGMD-3 assessment. Compared to TDG, DSG showed lower TOTTGMD-3 (DSG: 45.5 \u00b1 17.3; TDG: 77.3 \u00b1 9.5), LOCTGMD-3 (DSG: 22.2 \u00b1 10.0; TDG: 36.2 \u00b1 7.6) and OBJTGMD-3 (DSG: 23.3 \u00b1 10.9; TDG: 41.1 \u00b1 5.6). After the training, TOTTGMD-3, LOCTGMD-3 and OBJTGMD-3 increased by 35.6%, 30.0% and 40.7%, respectively. Our results suggest that MC acquisition does not evolve into a mature form in adulthood in individuals with DS. Moreover, a brief exposure to an adapted karate program induces an increase in motor competence in DS, even in adulthood.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19042157","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,14]],"date-time":"2022-02-14T20:26:42Z","timestamp":1644870402000},"page":"2157","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Motor Competence in Individuals with Down Syndrome: Is an Improvement Still Possible in Adulthood?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5658-379X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federico","family":"Quinzi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Movement and Health Science, University of Rome \u201cForo Italico\u201d, 00135 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2359-6076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Vannozzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Movement and Health Science, University of Rome \u201cForo Italico\u201d, 00135 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7452-120X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valentina","family":"Camomilla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Movement and Health Science, University of Rome \u201cForo Italico\u201d, 00135 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1927-7478","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Francesca","family":"Piacentini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Movement and Health Science, University of Rome \u201cForo Italico\u201d, 00135 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Florin","family":"Boca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Romanian Karate Federation, 022103 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4228-289X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eric","family":"Bortels","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"I-Karate Global Federation\u2014IKANDO, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eva","family":"Kathrein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Karate Club Bregenz, 6900 Bregenz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5596-1384","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Magyar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hungarian Karate Federation, 1146 Budapest, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Verdone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Italian Karate Federation\u2014FIJLKAM, 00122 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paola","family":"Sbriccoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Movement and Health Science, University of Rome \u201cForo Italico\u201d, 00135 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.1038\/ijo.2012.55","article-title":"A longitudinal analysis of gross motor coordination in overweight and obese children versus normal-weight peers","volume":"37","author":"Deforche","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. 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