Evaluating the Psychosocial Determinants of Physical Activity in Ambulatory Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a chronic disability that damages the nerves that send signals to and from our brain. Individuals with incomplete SCI have partial damage to the spinal cord and may still have muscle and sensory function below the site of injury. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between psychosocial determinants, general physical activity, and walking activity in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury. Data was collected from 56 participants (47% male, mean age of 58.82 years old) at Rijndam Rehabilitation Centre. Participants were recruited from rehabilitation centres and had sustained their SCI at least one year prior. Participants took part in physical examination, exercise tests, and gait analysis. Participants had to fill out a questionnaire that assessed demographic factors, environmental factors, and psychosocial factors (attitude, coping, self-efficacy, fear of falling, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep, and social support)....Show moreSpinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a chronic disability that damages the nerves that send signals to and from our brain. Individuals with incomplete SCI have partial damage to the spinal cord and may still have muscle and sensory function below the site of injury. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between psychosocial determinants, general physical activity, and walking activity in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury. Data was collected from 56 participants (47% male, mean age of 58.82 years old) at Rijndam Rehabilitation Centre. Participants were recruited from rehabilitation centres and had sustained their SCI at least one year prior. Participants took part in physical examination, exercise tests, and gait analysis. Participants had to fill out a questionnaire that assessed demographic factors, environmental factors, and psychosocial factors (attitude, coping, self-efficacy, fear of falling, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep, and social support). All the physical activity data was obtained through the Activ8. Participants were given an accelerometer-based activity monitor (Activ8) to wear on their body, which recorded their physical activity for seven days. Two multiple linear regressions were conducted to assess the associations between the psychosocial determinants and the outcome measures. Three determinants were selected for the final regression model due to the assumptions of multiple linear regression (fear of falling, self-efficacy, and age). The results showed that fear of falling was a significant negative determinant of both general physical activity (R² = 0.130) and walking activity (R² = 0.137). Other psychosocial determinants included in the multiple linear regression, such as self-efficacy and age were not significantly associated with physical activity nor walking activity. The final regression model was comprised of only fear of falling which accounted for 13.0% of variance in physical activity and 13.7% of variance in walking activity. These findings provide insight into the association between fear of falling and lower physical activity levels in individuals with SCI. This suggests that fear of falling may be an important factor to consider during the rehabilitation process. However, further research is needed to determine whether addressing fear of falling can increase physical activity levels in individuals with SCI.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Evaluating the Psychosocial Determinants of Physical Activity in Ambulatory Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury