Physical and psychological health outcomes of a sitting light volleyball intervention program on adults with physical disabilities: a non-randomized controlled pre-post study

Abstract

Background People with physical disabilities (PWPD) have limited opportunities to participate in sport activities. Sitting light volleyball (SLVB) is an adapted sport that combines light volleyball and paralympic sitting volleyball. This study examined the effectiveness of an SLVB intervention program to improve the physical and psychological health outcomes of PWPD in Hong Kong, China. Methods Thirty-two PWPD [13 women; SLVB group, n = 18; control group (CG), n = 14] with an average age of 48.89 years (SD = 14.42 years) participated in a 16-week intervention consisting of basic SLVB skills, and they also received instructions on the required posture, team tactics, and SLVB rules. Physical (i.e., muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition, flexibility, and aerobic endurance) and psychological (i.e., physical activity enjoyment and quality of life) health outcomes were measured before and after the intervention. Results Individuals in the SLVB group exhibited statistically significant improvements in cardiovascular endurance [F(1,29) = 4.23, p = .049], body composition [F(1,23) = 6.67, p = .017], and physical activity enjoyment [F(1,29) = 16.94, p = .001] compared with adults in the CG. Conclusions Participating in SLVB has physical and psychological benefits for adults with physical disabilities in this study. Registration number of trial registry: The trial is registered at chictr.org.cn, number ChiCTR2000032971 on 17/05/2020.

Qualidade de Vida de Pessoas com Deficiência Motora, Praticantes ou não de Paradesporto

“…Measuring the quality of life of Paralympic athletes, we found that PWDs who play sports evaluate their QOL favorably as found in the literature (Freire et al, 2019a;Wellichan;Leung et al, 2021;Calheiros et al, 2021;Szeliga et al, 2022;Mira et al, 2022).…”

Development of Pilates-based Exercise Program for Dynamic Balancing of Adult Cerebral Palsy

“…According to a previous study that applied domestic various exercise programs, ball exercise for strengthening the trunk muscle strength of disabled person with spastic cerebral palsy showed a signi cant effect in lying and ipping, four-legged crawling, and knee standing in the gross motor function. Participating in in sport activities has physical and psychological bene ts for adults with physical disabilities (12) but, According to a previous study that applied public various exercise programs, Active children have better postural control than sedentary children, Children who are active in physical activity practice have better posture control. The sedentary lifestyle should be reduced in the child population.…”