PACER Performance of Children Aged 11–14 With Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

Abstract

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine the performance on the progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run (PACER) test in children with and without attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) over the course of a school year, and also to investigate the possible influence of age, sex, school sport participation, and body mass index on results. Methods: Utilizing a repeated measures design, 892 middle school children aged 11–14 years (mean = 12.25, SD = 0.94) including 55 children with ADHD participated. While controlling for age, sex, sports participation, and body mass index, children were tested on the PACER 3 times during the school year. Procedures specified in the FITNESSGRAM test manual were explicitly followed. Hierarchical linear modeling was applied to analyze the data. Results: Children with ADHD performed 8.6 fewer laps at intercept (baseline), than did healthy children without ADHD (t878 = −6.20, P < .001). However, no significant differences emerged for time (slope). In addition, no significant interactions were found for ADHD with age, sex, sports participation, or body mass index. Conclusion: A diagnosis of ADHD, independent of selected predictor variables, explained lower PACER performance.