earticle

영어

Although the children with intellectual disability may find the physical activity difficult in the beginning due to their lack of skills, constant efforts will improve their abilities, and by spending time doing sports with their peers or family, they not only can use their leisure time productively, but they can also improve any health problems caused by a lack of physical activity. The e-sports game, which are relatively fun and easy for both disabled and non-disabled children alike, can be applied instead. By learning the rules and methods of the game, intelligence quotient (IQ) can be improved by using their intellectual functions. In addition, it can be a stimulus for the student’s education, improve social skills needed for attending school, and improve skills necessary for group life. Positive effects to disabled children are anticipated with taking part in e-sports game, but there are no reports as of yet on the pros and cons of such activities, and the effect of e-sports on the physical fitness, IQ, and sociality of disabled children was thought to be meaningful. Special education students attending A elementary school in Chungcheongnamdo were included in this study, and were divided into four groups: disabled students wishing to participate in the e-sports (disabled group with e-sports; ExDG, n=4), disabled students who do not wish to participate in the e-sports (disabled group without e-sports; ConDG, n=4), non-disabled students wishing to participate in the e-sports (normal group with e-sports; ExNG, n=4), and non-disabled students who do not wish to participate in the e-sports (normal group without e-sports; ConNG, n=4). The two e-sports participating groups (ExDG and ExNG) played games 1 hour per day 3 times a week. The games that were played were boxing, table tennis, and tennis from Nintendo Wii sports, all full-body-experience games. In order to observe the changes before and after the study, 27 matches were performed over 9 weeks. All data are reported as mean ± standard deviation. The changed rate (Δ%) was yielded from pre-test to post-test. The differences of the Δ% were evaluated with the non-parametric analysis among four groups. The significance level for all analyses was set a priori at P ≤ 0.05. Results were as follows. First, the e-sports decreased the fat mass of ExDG, whereas the lean mass increased similar to those of the normal groups. The cardiopulmonary endurance level of ExDG increased after e-sports. However, it did not affect strength and muscular endurance. Moreover, the flexibility level of ExDG decreased after e-sports. Secondly, the e-sports did not affect IQ of ExDG according to the K-WISC-IV scale. Lastly, the e-sports positively affected sociality of ExDG according to the KNISE-SAB scale. As conclusion, the e-sports game positively affected body composition, cardiopulmonary endurance, and sociality of the disabled group. However, it negatively affected or did not affect strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and intelligence of the disabled group. The results of this study suggest that e-sports game may improve those with intellectual disability in certain areas.