Norlizah Abdul Hamid

The reliability of the general sporting ability (GSA) protocols to identify sports talent among persons with blind and visually-impaired in Klang valley, Malaysia

The purpose of the study is to investigate the reliability of the general sporting ability (GSA) protocols to identify sports talent among persons with blind and visually-impaired and also aimed to examine the differences in general ability among persons with blind and visually-impaired on selected general sporting ability protocols in Klang Valley, Malaysia. 77 persons with blind and visually-impaired (33 male and 44 female) from special school for the blind, Kuala Lumpur participated the study and been choose through purposive sampling. Subjects went through test-retest method of 19 general sporting ability protocols. The study was analyzed used SPSS version 19. Intra-class Correlation (ICC) had been used to test the reliability of the test-retest for each protocol. Independent t-test was used to compare the differences in general sporting ability among persons with blind and visual impaired (totally and partially blind) on general sporting ability protocols in Klang Valley, Malaysia. According to the result, ICC showed more than 0.70. So, there are a strong correlation between test and retest result. There are significant difference between blind and the visually-impaired group based on the test protocols. There are need to create several appropriate tests to identify the ability especially for the blind group.

Predicting the Physical Fitness Level Among Students with Hearing Impairment

Physical fitness is defined as his or her ability to perform in physical activities without fatigue. Children with disabilities including with hearing impairment indicate lower physical fitness than their hearing peers and place them at risk for non-communicable diseases (NCD). Deafness or hearing impairment is referred as sensory disability with hearing loss exceeding than 55 dB. Almost children indicated hearing impairment have demonstrated lower physical fitness levels than their hearing peers. The objective of the study is to compare between physical fitness levels and gender among students with hearing impairment. The demographic data consist of age group, gender, health status concerning the diseases, and physical fitness of health-related and skill-related fitness using the convenient sampling. The total of hearing impairment students from a primary and a secondary school is n = 170 (males 122, females 48). Demographic data were collected by questionnaire. Physical fitness test batteries carried out 10-m shuttle run, standing vertical jump, sit-ups, handgrip strength, sit-and-reach test, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Significant differences were found in body composition, sit-and-reach vertical jump, and handgrip strength between age–gender groups. In evaluation of health-related fitness, males are better in primary school compared to females in the same age. However, females performed better than males in fitness variable of flexibility, abdominal strength, and endurance in secondary school. In cardiovascular endurance, females achieve higher result than males. Meanwhile, skill-related fitness in agility, females are significantly better than males in both schools, while in muscle leg power and handgrip strength, the findings illustrate that males were significantly greater than females in both age groups. The findings in terms of physical fitness revealed variations in body composition, flexibility, cardiovascular function, and muscle power between the two groups. The findings of this study may enhance the identification of fitness level of hearing impairment children which may improve health outcomes in children.

Attitude and Perceived Constraints Towards Physical Activity Among Gender in Alor Setar, Kedah

This study aims to identify attitudes among adults on physical activity and also identify key constraints in physical activity among gender in Alor Setar, Kedah. The study was conducted in Pekan Rabu and Star Parade Shopping Mall on 151 adult male and 237 female adults between the ages of 25–59 years. Data were collected using administered questionnaire, which adapted from Kenyon Attitude Towards Physical Activity Questionnaire [13] and the Perceived Constraints to Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire [14] . Results showed respondents had high attitude towards physical activity (M = 3.68, SD = 0.35), and they also perceived high constraints in participating physical activity (M = 3.67, SD = 0.87). Data also showed significant differences for gender on attitude for catharsis domain (t = 1.11, p < 0.02) and ascetic experience domain (t = 2.23, p < 0.03), as well as partners domain in the perceived constraints (t = 2.31, p < 0.02). Most respondents have positive attitude and believe that physical activity helps to improve their health and fitness. They also reported that they are busy with their family and friends; therefore, they do not have enough time to do physical activity sufficiently. In conclusion, even if they have a good attitude towards physical activity, but because they still perceived a lot of constraints, then, participation in physical activity became low. To encourage continuing participation, certain aspects need to be addressed by the parties through providing activities, programmes, places and guideline that can be used either in the home or workplace in connection to physical activity participation.

The Level of Physiological Profile on Disability Track and Field Athletes on Selected Fitness Components

The purpose of the study was to determine the physiological profile among disabled track and field athletes. 84 elite athletes (n = 84) from various types of disabilities such as visual impaired (n = 32; male = 19; female = 13), cerebral palsy (n = 31; male = 29; female = 2), intellectual disability (male = 18), and amputees (male = 3) were selected for this study. Four fitness tests were selected and conducted such as the handgrip strength test, vertical jump test, sit and reach test, and sit ups test. The result shows that the athletes such as visual impairment and intellectual disability have a higher muscle strength, power, and endurance. The mean score for athletes with intellectual disability in vertical jump test is 45.19 (±7.79), which shows the highest score among the athletes. While, the mean score for athletes with visual impaired in sit ups test is 39.53 (±13.42) which shows the highest score among the athletes. This shows that their disabilities was not affected the muscular strength and endurance. Athletes with amputees have a higher static strength and flexibility which shows the mean result in handgrip strength test is 46.80 (±5.57), and mean result in sit and reach test is 43.83 (±5.01). The athletes with cerebral palsy have the lowest score in all tests that shows lack of muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility because the disabilities such as spasticity do affect their physical such as balance, coordination, and direction. The significance value is (p < 0.05). The comparison for all types of disabilities in handgrip strength test shows significance difference which score is 0.00, while the score in vertical jump test is 0.00, and the score in sit ups test is also 0.00. However, the score for sit and reach test was not shown in the significance different where the score is 0.86. This shows that the test for measure the strength and endurance is suitable to determine the fitness profile for disabled track and field athletes and they are required the muscular strength and endurance.

The Differences Between Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Normal Students on the Physical Fitness Level

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the physical fitness level among student with intellectual disabilities (ID) and normal students. A total of 45 students that consist of ID students (n = 25) and 20 normal students (n = 20) from an integrated school were recruited voluntarily. The instruments used in the study are the handgrip test for muscular strength, sit-up and push-up test for muscular endurance, sit and reach test for flexibility, and AAHPERD shuttle run test for agility. The mean height and weight for the ID and normal student were 1.54 ± 6.01 m and 47.7 ± 8.15 kg, respectively. The mean value for sit and reach for student with ID was 9.2 ± 2.6 cm; handgrip (right) test was 21.9 ± 5.8 kg, handgrip (left) was 20.7 ± 4.8 kg, the sit-up test was 24.6 ± 8.6, the push-up was 20.7 ± 8.1, and for the shuttle run test was 9.2 ± 2.1 s. As anticipated, the normal students have demonstrated better physical fitness when compared to ID students. The present study findings reveal that the physical fitness level is almost similar to normal student; however, more attention and care must be given to the ID student with respect to health and normal growth development. Thus, more studies among ID individuals are required to better understanding on their physical performance and with such study; it will help the health care professional and special education teachers to formulate, design, and implement a well-structured physical fitness program for students with ID.

Pulmonary Function Profiling Among Young Athletes of SUKMA Terengganu

Studies on pulmonary function usually revolved in clinical research of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current study was designed to set a profile and compare the pulmonary function among young athletes competing in the Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) 2011. The parameters measured include forced vital capacity (FVC), one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC ratio (FEV1/FVC%). A total of 75 (males: 40, female: 35) young athletes (9–22 years old) participated in this study. The athletes were randomly selected according to their sports’ involvement (i.e., swimming, cycling, and hockey). Pulmonary function was measured using COSMED Pony FX Desktop Spirometer. Descriptive and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Cyclists showed to have significantly higher FVC and FEV1 compared to swimmers in both genders. Male cyclists also showed significantly higher in FEV1 than male hockey players. Female hockey players showed significantly higher FVC compared to swimmers. However, FEV1/FVC% showed no significant differences among cyclists, swimmers, and hockey players. In general, results indicated that cyclists had better pulmonary functions compared to the other two sports.

The Construction of Women Position in Sport: A Textual Analysis of the Articles and Images on Female Athletes in Malaysia Toward Two National Dailies Newspapers During 26th Sea Games 2011

Sport media is seldom covering women’s athletes by excluding them from sports news. Yet, female athletes often to compare between male athlete’s ability and hegemonic powers during sport media coverage. This study identifies how national printed media in Malaysia (New Straits Times and Berita Harian) provide coverage to female athlete’s performance and also analyze construction of empowering positions and disempowering positions for women especially in newspapers. Methods: a content analysis is used to determine the descriptor in the newspaper’s content of both newspapers based on articles and images in sport sections during 26th Sea Games 2011 at Indonesia. Kian [2] (Newspaper Sport Journal 29(3), 2008) coding system was used to analyze the articles and Sport Illustrated Content (1997–2000) coding system for images. Result: both of newspapers show the different angle of view for women athletes where the highest numbers of articles published by Berita Harian focusing on psychological strengths and emotional strengths while New Straits Times is focusing on the positive skills level and accomplishment. However, both newspapers give a lowest coverage of articles, which was focusing on athletic weaknesses and limitations. For images, NST and Berita Harian focused on the same code of portrayal for nonsport setting images rather than athletic action.

Assessment of Physical Fitness Performance Among Students with Cerebral Palsy on Selected Fitness Components

Physical fitness and participation in sports are important to the students with cerebral palsy (CP). Persons with disabilities who lack of physical fitness can affect their overall performance. The objective of the study was to assess on physical fitness performance among students with CP based on the selected fitness components. Total of 25 students (male = 11; female = 14) were randomly selected range from classification classes of C2–C7. The sample of the study consists of 48 % Malay, 28 % Chinese, and 24 % Indian. The mean age of the subjects is 23.32 ± 2.07 years old (age range from 10 to 46 years old). Majority of the subjects are in the class C4 (16 %), followed by class C5 (36 %), from class C4 (16 %), from class C2 (8 %), and from class C3 (4 %). All the subjects were assessed through physical fitness tests such as sit-and-reach test, handgrip strength test, dumbbell press test, and arm ergometry (total pedal revolution, calorie, and time). All the data were analyzed using SPSS and presented as mean. The mean value for sit-and-reach test is 26.10 ± 1.65, while the mean value for handgrip strength test is 12.20 ± 1.25. The mean value for dumbbell press test is 27.76 ± 5.68, followed by arm ergometry; the total pedal revolution (170.80 ± 31.24), calorie (5.52 ± 0.98), and time (4.78 ± 0.67). The physical fitness overall was in satisfactory level, and the subjects tried their best to achieve the highest fitness status. Physical fitness should be conducted for students with disabilities so that it can help their activity of daily living (ADL) and enjoy their quality of life.