Physical activity levels in older adults with intellectual disabilities are extremely low

This study measures physical activity levels in a representative population-based sample of older adults (aged >= 50 years) with intellectual disabilities. For this, the steps/day of all 1050 participants of the Healthy Ageing and Intellectual Disabilities study (HA-ID; a study conducted among three Dutch healthcare providers in 2009-2010), were measured with a pedometer. Largely due to physical limitations (n = 103), walking speed <3.2 km/h (n = 252), limited understanding or non-cooperation (n = 233), only 257 of the group were able to participate in valid measurements with pedometers. Of these 257 participants, only 16.7% (95% Cl 12.2-21.3) complied with the guideline of 10,000 steps/day, 36.2% (95% Cl 30.3-42.1) took 7500 steps/day or more, and 39% (95% Cl 32.6-44.5) was sedentary (