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Published on: June 16, 2016
Do people with spinal cord injury meet the WHO recommendations on physical activity?
Alexandra Rauch1, Timo Hinrichs2,3, Cornelia Oberhauser4
1Chair for Public Health and Health-Service Research, Research Unit for Biopsychosocial Health, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology-IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Marchioninistrasse 17, 81377, Munich, Germany. rauchalex@hotmail.com.
Objectives:
To describe physical activity (PA) levels in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to investigate associated factors.
Methods:
PA behavior of people with SCI in Switzerland was assessed in a community survey with four items from the Physical Activity Scale for individuals with physical disabilities (PA of light, moderate, and strenuous intensity and muscle-strengthening exercises). In addition to descriptive analyses, the odds of performing PA according to the WHO recommendations (at least 2.5 h/week of at least moderate intensity) were analyzed by multivariable logistic regression.
Results:
Participants (n = 485; aged 52.9 ± 14.8; 73.6 % male) carried out PA a total of 6.0 h/week (median). 18.6 % were physically inactive, 50.3 % carried out muscle-strengthening exercises, and 48.9 % fulfilled the WHO recommendations. Regression analyses showed that women, people aged 71+, and people with complete tetraplegia had significantly lower odds of fulfilling the WHO recommendations than participants in the respective reference category (men, ages 17-30, incomplete paraplegia).
Conclusions:
PA levels of people with SCI in Switzerland are rather high. However, some subgroups need special consideration when planning interventions to increase PA levels.
