Dr. Longmuir leads a programme of mixed methods research in paediatric exercise medicine. Her studies examine the role of physical activity in the physical and mental health of children with medical condition and disabilities, and the use of physical activity to prevent and/or treat morbidity. Physical activity motivation, movement skill development and physical literacy are the foci. Current research interests include: i) pediatric exercise medicine, ii) role of physical activity in the physical and mental health of children with cardiac conditions, iii) physical literacy and health, iv) physical activity among children with medical conditions and disabilities, v) motivation for physical activity in paediatric clinical populations, vi) patient and family engagement, and vii) knowledge translation and mobilization.
Dr. Patricia Longmuir, PhD, RKin, CEP
Senior Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa
613-737-7600 ext. 3908
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Biography
Dr. Longmuir is a Senior Scientist in the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and a Professor in the Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Ottawa. Dr. Longmuir’s research interests are the promotion of physical activity to children with medical conditions and disabilities, and the use of physical activity to prevent and/or treat morbidity. Her undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. theses examined the impact of interventions to increase physical activity among children with heart defects or cystic fibrosis. Dr. Longmuir’s post-doctoral fellowship was a community health promotion initiative targeting parents of young children. Dr. Longmuir has published more than 100 papers and 6 book chapters in the peer-reviewed literature. She has delivered over 230 scholarly conference presentations, and more than 90 invited and keynote addresses.
Education, Credentials, Academic Appointments
- MSc (1985), Department of Community Health, University of Toronto
- PhD (2010), Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2011), Labatt Family Heart Centre, SickKids, Toronto
- Senior Scientist, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
- Professor, Dept. of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
- Cross-appointed, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa
- Cross-appointed, School of Graduate and Post-graduate Studies, University of Ottawa
- College of Kinesiology of Ontario – Registered Kinesiologist
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology – Certified Exercise Physiologist
Research, Clinical, Professional and Scholarly Focus and Service
- Invited member of the Technical Committee for Outdoor Spaces of Accessibility Standards Canada
- Invited member of the RESNA Standards Committee on Ground and Floor Surfaces
- Spirit/Consort Children Delphi Study and Consensus Committee member
- Member of the Global Coalition for Fitness and Congenital Heart Disease
- Member of the Participant Recruitment Expert Advisory Committee for the Canadian Collaboration for Child Health: Efficiency and Excellence in the Ethics Review of Research
- Invited member of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Physical Activity and Lifestyle Appraisal Strategic Planning Committee
- Member of the Writing Committee on the Promotion of Physical Activity Participation in Children and Adults with Congenital Heart Disease of the American Heart Association
- Invited member of the Ontario Trails Coordinating Committee
- Member of the City of Toronto Department of Parks, Forestry and Recreation Disability Advisory Committee
- Reviewer for many scholarly journals, including Circulation, Heart, Paediatrics and Child Health, BMC Public Health, American Journal of Cardiology, and PLOS ONE
- Faculty and course development for undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education courses related to recreation and fitness access, inclusion of people with disabilities, accessibility of natural environments, and accessibility of public rights of way
Current and Past Memberships
- North American Society for Paediatric Exercise Medicine
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology
- American Heart Association
- American College of Sports Medicine
- North American Federation of Adapted Physical Activity
- Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability
Trainee Opportunities
Dr. Longmuir has supervised graduate student research at both the Masters and PhD levels. Currently her graduate students are contributing to the following projects:
- Impact risk during childhood physical activity for children at risk of severe bleeding.
- HELP (HEalthy Lifestyles Project) for youth experiencing mental distress.
Current Trainees and Volunteers, Medical and Undergraduate Students
- Eesha Mehra (University of Ottawa) – M.Sc. (2025-2027)HEalthy Lifestyle Project (HELP) for Youth Experiencing Mental Distress
- Callie O’Grady (University of Ottawa) – M.Sc. (2025-2027)HEalthy Lifestyle Project (HELP) for Youth Experiencing Mental Distress
- Lauren Backstein (University of Ottawa) – M.D. (2023-2027)Impact risk during childhood physical activity for children at risk of severe bleeding.
- Bryn Joy (University of Ottawa) – M.D. (2024-2028)Therapeutic lifestyle counselling of youth experiencing mental distress
- Ria Patel (McMaster University) – B.HSc. (2023-2027)Feasibility of physical activity support at the time of surgery for congenital heart disease
- Sarah Sbeiti (University of Ottawa) – B.Sc. Nursing (2023-2027) Impact risk during childhood physical activity for children at risk of severe bleeding
- Mona Elmikaty (McMaster University) – B.Sc. (2023-2027) Impact risk during childhood physical activity for children at risk of severe bleeding
- Adshaya Pakeerathan (University of Ottawa) – B.HSc. (2022-2026)Healthy Lifestyles Project (HELP) for youth experiencing mental distress
- Kaitlyn Laurie (volunteer) Healthy Lifestyles Project (HELP) for youth experiencing mental distress
- Anushka Kehar (volunteer)Physical literacy screening in pediatric clinical settings
Past Trainees
Current Research
HELP (HEalthy Lifestyles Project) for youth experiencing mental distress
In Ontario, youth mental health is in crisis: suicide/self-harm doubled 2019-2022; 75% of youth with mental illness do not get care; 28,000 youth wait 8-12 months for care. These serious delays prevent the best outcomes. Sleep, physical activity, or screen time habits impact mental wellbeing, self-esteem, and quality of life and are addressed with 95% of youth receiving mental health care. Working with over 70 youth experiencing mental distress, parents and clinicians, we developed virtual, asynchronous HELP (HEalthy Lifestyle Project) resources that uniquely focus on enabling lifestyle behaviour change through simple, step-by-step guidance (not just information that change is needed) available 24/7. We will invite eastern Ontario youth seeking mental health support (12-17 yrs) to join our study. Readiness for behaviour change, sleep, physical activity, screen time, emotional health and quality of life questionnaires will evaluate changes over six months. Youth will be randomly assigned to use the HELP resources immediately or after the six-month study visit to understand the impact of HELP use. Lifestyle support could be a low cost, enjoyable, and stigma-free option for initial support and enhanced readiness for treatment benefits.
Preventing sedentary lifestyles among children born with congenital heart defects: Studying the feasibility of physical activity after heart repair
3,500 Canadian children born each year have heart problems (CHD). We target their most important long term health problems (heart attack, obesity, mental illness) so they not only survive, but thrive! Physical activity reduces these health risks but <10% of children with CHD meet Canadian physical activity recommendations. We have shown that the least active toddlers with CHD remain the least active children at 5 years of age, emphasizing the importance of early & better support. Before evaluating the benefits of physical activity support for young children with CHD, we need to test the feasibility and potential effectiveness of our research idea. We think that providing parents with active play activities for their infant/toddler with CHD for 6 months, starting when the child’s CHD is treated, will establish an active lifestyle. Since no one has tried this type of project before, this project will evaluate whether families will agree to participate at the time of their child’s treatment, if they are willing to complete 5 physical activity assessments, if children can do the play-based activities immediately after treatment, and if we have the required space and staff time. We will also gather preliminary information on whether the play activities can improve the children’s physical activity. For 18 months, we will ask all 100 children treated for CHD to participate in our study. We expect 48 will finish the study; 36 receiving play activities, 12 receiving only standard care (waitlist) for 12 months.
Each child’s movement skill, daily activity, social skills and quality of life will be tested 5 times (start, week 7, months 6, 12 & 16). We will count how many children start and complete the study, reasons they withdraw, whether they can do all of the tests and how often they do the play activities. The study outcomes will be the feasibility and efficacy data needed to plan a randomized controlled trial to assess our play intervention benefits during CHD-treatment.
Impact risk during childhood physical activity for children at risk of severe bleeding
Children at risk of severe bleeding include those born with haemophilia or other bleeding disorders and children who must take medication to prevent blood clots. Healthy, active lifestyle are important for the physical and mental health of these children but physical contact during activities is not recommended. Current guidelines focus on specific sports, and do not address many of the common activities for children – such as physical education classes at school or playing in a swimming pool at summer camp. This study is using video recordings of children at play in a variety of typical activities to evaluate the risks for children who can easily get a significant bleeding injury.
Previous Research
Pilot study to evaluate a novel health survey to assess physical activity, screen time, sleep, and other health habits from the perspectives of adolescents with a chronic medical condition or disability and their parent/guardian. Questionnaires are completed twice to establish the survey reliability. Answers are compared between adolescents and their parent/guardian and questionnaire responses are compared to measurements of daily physical activity from a monitor worn by the participants.
Physical activity is very important for the health and well-being of children and teens. However, medical conditions or disabilities can make it harder to be active. The CHEO Active website provides over 1,000 physical activity opportunities that are individualized to each child’s health conditions. We are seeking families who would like to try using the website and provide us with feedback.
Longmuir PE, Chubbs Payne A, Beshara N, Brandão LR, Wright FV, Pohl D, Katz SL, McCormick A, De Laat D, Klaassen RJ, Johnston DL, Lougheed J, Roth J, McMillan HJ, Venkateswaran S, Sell E, Doja A, Boafo A, Macartney G, Matheson K, Feldman BM. Quick, Effective Screening Tasks Identify Children With Medical Conditions or Disabilities Needing Physical Literacy Support, 2024, 1-11. Pediatr Exerc Sci. DOI: 10.1123/pes.2023-0130.
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Longmuir PE. Importance of physical activity and exercise in paediatric Fontan patients. Canadian Journal of Cardiology Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, 2022, 1, 105-107. Editorial. DOI: 0.1016/j.cjcpc.2022.05.001.
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Saxena S, Vo J, Millage J, Wong D, Belanger P, Fournier A, Bodiam L, Allison A, Longmuir PE. Developing patient resources to enable the exchange of healthy lifestyle information between clinicians and families of children with complex heart problems. Child: Care, Health and Development, 2021, 47, 357-366. DOI: 10.1111/cch.12848.
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Sample Publications