Sports participation in individuals with spinal cord injury

Abstract

The factors associated with involvement in sport were surveyed in a sample of 121 adults (aged 16 to 60 years) with spinal cord injury. The subjects responded to a questionnaire requesting data on personal characteristics and injury variables, and completed measures of depression (Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) and trait anxiety (Spielberger's State Trait Anxiety Inventory). Univariate analysis showed that although sport participants (n = 67) did not differ significantly from nonparticipants (n = 54) on any of the psychometric measures, they were younger, had sustained their injury at an earlier stage, reported higher incomes, and were less likely to have sustained cervical-level damage. A hierarchical discriminant function analysis revealed that the significant predictors discriminating sport participants from nonparticipants were age and income. These findings suggested that, at least for this sample of individuals with spinal cord injury, post-injury involvement in sport was not specifically associated with indices of psychological adjustment.