Physical Activity and Accomplishment of Recommendations in University Students with Disabilities: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

University settings are socio-environmental contexts that can reduce health disparities in students with disabilities. Therefore, the aim of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the longitudinal physical activity (PA) changes of Spanish university students with disabilities during a three-year period; and (b) to identify the accomplishment of the World Health Organization’s PA recommendations in this period. A three-year follow-up cohort study was conducted on 355 university students with disabilities (172 men, 183 women). The participants completed an electronic survey on PA after which a descriptive analysis, longitudinal (Wilcoxon tests) and cross-sectional pairwise comparisons (Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests) were performed on non-normal data. The results show no significant PA changes during the three-year period. The cross-sectional comparisons between the waves presented a reduction in vigorous PA according to sex and similar values by age, origin of disability, and socioeconomic status. A global reduction of 0.6% was found in achieving the recommendations between the waves. We also found an increase of 5.3% in the participants classified as overweight–obese during this period. The findings offered in this study have important implications for university disability care services and sports services. University policies should focus on rethinking PA and sports programs for students with disabilities.

Physical activity behaviour up to 1 year post-rehabilitation among adults with physical disabilities and/or chronic diseases: results of the prospective cohort study ReSpAct

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first prospective cohort study that considers all dose characteristics (duration, setting, intensity, mode and frequency) of PA in a large heterogeneous population of adults with physical disabilities/chronic diseases. Compared with previous studies (self-reported PA in specific disability groups and in heterogeneous disability groups), our participants were more active in total PA, MVPA and leisure time PA 8 20 22 40–45. Furthermore, the proportion of participants adhering to the aerobic component of the WHO PA guideline (>150 min of moderate PA, >75 min of vigorous PA or combination of both) is higher in our population compared with previous research (68%–74% vs 35%–60%) 8 46–48.…”

Johsk

“…This can lead to stress and prohibit from being able to participate in leisure activities and campus recreation activities (Devine, 2016). In addition, Pans et al (2021) pointed out that first year college students drop out within the first semester because they are faced with many challenges and difficulty in adapting to the university environment. Therefore, stress is considered a major constraint to campus recreation participation among students with disabilities.…”

Promoting Physical Activity for College and University Students with Disabilities

“…This can lead to stress and prohibit from being able to participate in leisure activities and campus recreation activities (Devine, 2016). In addition, Pans et al (2021) pointed out that first year college students drop out within the first semester because they are faced with many challenges and difficulty in adapting to the university environment. Therefore, stress is considered a major constraint to campus recreation participation among students with disabilities.…”