<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0014_s_331_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c15b1Aa"><h3>Objectives</h3><p>Studying the quality of life of people with a spinal cord injury is of great importance as it allows the monitoring of both functioning and adaptation to disability. The aim of this study was to determine the difference between persons with a spinal cord injury involved in sports activities and those not involved in sports activities in relation to their quality of life and the presence of secondary health conditions (pressure ulcers, urinary infections, muscle spasms, osteoporosis, pain, kidney problems-infections, calculosis and poor circulation).</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0014_s_333_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c15b2Aa"><h3>Methods</h3><p>The study included a total of 44 participants with spinal cord injury-paraplegia of both genders; 26 of them were athletes and 18 were not athletes. The athletes were training actively for the last two years, minimally 2-3 times per week. A specially designed questionnaire, medical documentation and the Spinal Cord Injury Quality of Life Questionnaire (SCI QL-23) were used for research purposes. Chi-square test was used to analyze the differences between the groups, while multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine the differences between the sets of variables.</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0014_s_334_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c15b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>Among the participants, the athletes perceived higher quality of life than the non-athletes (male gender p&lt;0.001 and female gender p&lt;0.05). Regarding secondary health conditions, the athletes reported the presence of less pain (p=0.034) and a subjective feeling of better circulation (p=0.023).</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0014_s_335_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c15b4Aa"><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>The implementation of sports activities significantly improves quality of life in the population of people with spinal cord injury-paraplegia. However, sports activities only partially affect secondary health conditions.</p></sec></abstract>

ObjectivesStudying the quality of life of people with a spinal cord injury is of great importance as it allows the monitoring of both functioning and adaptation to disability. The aim of this study was to determine the difference between persons with a spinal cord injury involved in sports activities and those not involved in sports activities in relation to their quality of life and the presence of secondary health conditions (pressure ulcers, urinary infections, muscle spasms, osteoporosis, pain, kidney problems-infections, calculosis and poor circulation).MethodsThe study included a total of 44 participants with spinal cord injury-paraplegia of both genders; 26 of them were athletes and 18 were not athletes. The athletes were training actively for the last two years, minimally 2-3 times per week. A specially designed questionnaire, medical documentation and the Spinal Cord Injury Quality of Life Questionnaire (SCI QL-23) were used for research purposes. Chi-square test was used to analyze the differences between the groups, while multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine the differences between the sets of variables.ResultsAmong the participants, the athletes perceived higher quality of life than the non-athletes (male gender p<0.001 and female gender p<0.05). Regarding secondary health conditions, the athletes reported the presence of less pain (p=0.034) and a subjective feeling of better circulation (p=0.023).ConclusionThe implementation of sports activities significantly improves quality of life in the population of people with spinal cord injury-paraplegia. However, sports activities only partially affect secondary health conditions.

The Impact Of Sports Activities On Quality Of Life Of Persons With A Spinal Cord Injury

Higher Education School of Professional Health Studies, Cara Dušana 254, 11000 Belgrade,

University of Belgrade, Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Visokog Stevana 2, 11000 Belgrade,

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

VPLIV ŠPORTNIH AKTIVNOSTI NA KAKOVOST ŽIVLJENJA OSEB S POŠKODBO HRBTENJAČE

ObjectivesStudying the quality of life of people with a spinal cord injury is of great importance as it allows the monitoring of both functioning and...

The Impact Of Sports Activities On Quality Of Life Of Persons With A Spinal Cord Injury

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Feb 11, 2016

Page range: 104 - 111

Received: Nov 06, 2014

Accepted: Nov 13, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2016-0014

Keywords
spinal cord injury, sports activities, quality of life, secondary health conditions

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Impact Of Sports Activities On Quality Of Life Of Persons With A Spinal Cord Injury

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Feb 11, 2016

Page range: 104 - 111

Received: Nov 06, 2014

Accepted: Nov 13, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2016-0014

Keywordsspinal cord injury, sports activities, quality of life, secondary health conditions

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
spinal cord injury, sports activities, quality of life, secondary health conditions