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Do people with spinal cord injury meet the WHO recommendations on physical activity?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financed in the framework of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study (SwiSCI, http://www.swisci.ch), supported by the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation.

The members of the SwiSCI Steering Committee are: Michael Baumberger, Mirjam Brach, Martin Brinkhof, Armin Curt, Olivier Dériaz, Hans Peter Gmünder, Kerstin Hug, Margret Hund-Georgiadis, Hans Georg Koch, Hansjörg Koch, Hardy Landolt, Martin Schubert, Gerold Stucki, Urs Styger, Christine Thyrian.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair 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

    Alexandra Rauch & Cornelia Oberhauser

  2. Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland

    Timo Hinrichs & Alarcos Cieza

  3. Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Timo Hinrichs

  4. Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Alarcos Cieza

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  1. Alexandra Rauch
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  2. Timo Hinrichs
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  3. Cornelia Oberhauser
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  4. Alarcos Cieza
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For the SwiSCI study group

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Rauch.

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The members of the SwiSCI study group are listed in the “Acknowledgments” section.

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Rauch, A., Hinrichs, T., Oberhauser, C. et al. Do people with spinal cord injury meet the WHO recommendations on physical activity?. Int J Public Health 61, 17–27 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0724-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0724-5

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