Patient perception of the impact of sporting activity on rehabilitation in a spinal cord injuries unit

Abstract

Objective: To establish patients' perception of the effect of sport on rehabilitation. Design: Single investigator telephone questionnaire survey. Setting: Spinal Cord Injuries Unit, Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Method: A telephone questionnaire was administered to patients admitted over a 12-month period. Information on patient demographics, sports participation before and after injury and patients' perception of the impact of sports on rehabilitation was recorded. Results: In all, 33 (84.6%) of the 39 patients could be contacted and all completed the questionnaire. Of the respondents 27 (81.8%) had a diagnosis of spinal cord injury. Six (18.2%) were female and 20 (60.6%) were below 45 years. A total of 15 (45.5%) patients previously participated in regular sporting activity. At least 24 (72.7%) tried one sport during admission. In all, 14 reported taking part in regular sporting activity after discharge, although 23 expressed a desire to do so. Of those 60% who had regularly exercised continued to do so and 27% of those who reported no regular sport, before injury, commenced regular active exercise. A general benefit of sporting activity was recognised by 78.8% and a rehabilitation benefit by 69.7%. Self-reported benefits included increase in fitness, quality of life, confidence and social contact. Conclusion: A high proportion of patients perceived sporting activity as beneficial. Patients exercising before injury were more likely to exercise after injury. All inpatients were introduced to sport by staff, emphasising the importance of this rehabilitation opportunity in planning in-patient care.

Perceived Exercise Self-efficacy as a Predictor of Exercise Behavior in Individuals Aging with Spinal Cord Injury

“…These findings have important clinical implications for developing interventions to increase and maintain physical activity and exercise in individuals aging with SCI. It is possible that preinjury activity 45 and age at injury 46 contribute, although not necessarily in linear ways, to whether a physically active lifestyle endures postinjury. Age at injury seems to be an important factor, although age effects are not yet fully understood, especially in terms of psychosocial adjustment.…”

Active Recreation and Well-Being: The Reconstruction of the Self Identity of Women With Spinal Cord Injury

“…Lifestyles revolving around physical activity are associated with confidence and increased social contact, as well as feelings of empowerment (Blinde & McClung, 1997;Blinde & Taub, 1999;O'Neill & Maguire, 2004). Physical activity provides feelings of achieved mastery, develops self-efficacy, and facilitates goal setting, cooperation, and competitiveness (Hansen & Douglas, 2002;Olsen, 2009;Southam, 2006;Tate et al, 2004;Vogel, Klaas, Lubicky, & Anderson, 1998).…”

Effects of Concurrent Respiratory Resistance Training on Health-Related Quality of Life in Wheelchair Rugby Athletes: A Pilot Study

“…Findings from this pilot study should be interpreted with caution, however, due to the small sample size, rate of attrition, and population investigated. While the sample size used in this study is not too dissimilar from the sample sizes reported in other studies involving persons with SCI, 2,7,8,11,28 the statistical power is low. However, most of the effect sizes were large, which indicates that the power of the study may have been too small to detect statistical significance.…”

“…5(p1) Over the last decade, numerous researchers investigating the effects of tetraplegia on HRQoL have identified physical activity as an important factor in improving the HRQoL of persons with this disability. 1,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, one challenge resulting from physical activity often faced by those with tetraplegia involves respiration. Respiratory complications have been shown to be negatively associated with life satisfaction 15 and HRQoL [16][17][18] for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).…”