Cleveland Clinic Children's Outcomes

Water Warriors is an 8-week aquatic physical therapy group for children between the ages of 12 and 16, which includes gentle, rhythmic exercises, yoga poses, breathing techniques and balance activities. Children who would benefit from Water Warriors may have a diagnosis of physical deconditioning, lack of coordination, polyarthralgia, and Charcot Marie tooth disorder. Each session is 45 minutes, and the group is designed for children with difficulties with higher level balance, body awareness and/or coordination. Pre- and post-assessments are administered using the Timed Up and Go (TUG), single leg balance, and the Functional Reach Test, also known as the Pediatric Reach Test.

According to Shumway-Cook et al 2000, a score of less than 14 seconds on Timed Up and Go decreases a patient’s risk of falls. Individual data analysis of the TUG indicated the average change in time was a decrease of 0.63 seconds with 54% of the group showing improvement in their TUG score.

The average age for Water Warriors participants in 2019-2022 was 13.56 years and the average functional reach for children ages 13-15 is 32.3 cm. Of the 22 patients, 77% showed improvement in their functional reach with an average change in functional reach of 8.03 cm. This data shows that the participants in this group had above average functional reach, or improved flexibility, for their age by the end of the group.