The purpose of this study was to explore the views, attitudes, and beliefs held by individuals with physical disabilities who participate in wheelchair athletics about physical activity and their perceived quality of life.
This study is important because it provides an understanding of the relationship between levels of physical activity and reported quality of life in individuals with disabilities. While a number of studies have been completed on able bodied participants, few researchers have examined the perceptions of persons with disabilities in relation to physical activity and sport. This type of research may provide some insight into what motivates these individuals to become involved in physical activity.
Twenty-five participants were recruited at local and national disability sporting events such as Paralympics training camps, wheelchair basketball tournaments and disability sport conferences. The participants had a wide range of physical disabilities including but not limited to amputations, spinal cord injuries, spina bifida, and cerebral palsy. The interview process began with the participants completing the Physical Activity Scale for Persons with Physical Disabilities that collected background information and documented each participant's current activity level. The participants were then each interviewed for approximately 60 minutes. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim.
Grounded theory analytic procedures were employed by the research team when analyzing the data. This included line by line coding of the interviews by all four research team members and the use of the constant comparison method to help interpret the data. Themes were not included in the findings of the study unless there was 100% agreement among all four researchers and evidence of the theme was present in at least 15 of the 25 interviews.
The results of this study indicated that the participants believed there were direct psychological benefits to sport participation that include increased self esteem, enjoyment, and overall well being. The participants also overwhelmingly indicated that sport had been a pathway to other opportunities such as travel, and education that further enhanced their quality of life.