Day III: Saturday, March 25, 2023; 9.00 AM Agenda: Physiotherapy in Neurological Conditions: AB No: 65 Association of physical fitness with leisure time physical activity in individuals with spinal cord injury

• Published in: Journal of Society of Indian Physiotherapists 2023-01, Vol.7 (1), p.83-84
• Main Authors: Attarde, Geetanjali, Ravindran, R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Exercise; Leisure; Physical fitness; Physical therapy; Spinal cord injuries; Therapeutics, Physiological
• ISSN: 2456-7787; 2582-0702
• DOI: 10.4103/2456-7787.379321

Purpose: Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) who use manual wheelchair for mobility tend to be physically inactive due to their less mobility. This is associated with poor fitness in them which leads to poor participation in leisure time physical activity (LTPA). The study aims to identify whether there exists an association of physical fitness with leisure time physical activity in individuals with SCI. Participants: 30 male and female individuals with SCI between the age group of 18 to 60 years. Method: This was a cross-sectional observational study. Physical fitness and Leisure Time Physical Activity was assessed using 6 Minute Push Test and Physical Activity Recall Assessment for people with SCI (PARA-SCI) respectively. Results: This study found a positive weak to no correlation between physical fitness and LTPA in individuals with SCI (rs = 0.1008), which was statistically non-significant (P value = 0.596). In this study, 28 (93.33%) participants had good physical fitness. The 19 (63.33%) participants were active in LTPA for at least 20 minutes per day at moderate to heavy intensity levels. However, 11 (36.67%) participants performed less than 20 minutes of LTPA per day at moderate to heavy intensity. Conclusion: Though most of the participants had good physical fitness, they performed only exercise-based activities such as walking with orthosis, pushing a wheelchair, push-ups exercises, and resistance training exercises for upper limb muscles in their leisure time. They did not participate in LTPA such as sports, gardening, swimming, gyming, or other recreational activities. Further studies can be done to understand the perception of Physiotherapists and SCI individuals toward LTPA participation. Implication: Sports can be utilized as a comprehensive aid for rehabilitation because they cover many parts of fitness, leisure and encourage social interaction.