Associations between meeting exercise guidelines, physical fitness, and health in people with spinal cord injury

Purpose: (1) To estimate the proportion of Dutch wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI) who meet different SCI exercise guidelines; (2) to evaluate which demographic and lesion characteristics are associated with meeting these guidelines; (3) whether meeting these guidelines is associated with physical fitness and health. Materials and methods: Based on the PASIPD questionnaire items, participants were allocated to meeting two SCI aerobic exercise guidelines, which differ in exercise load. Differences in personal, lesion, fitness, and health characteristics between groups were tested with a one-way ANOVA. Multiple regression analyses were performed to evaluate if meeting guidelines was associated with better fitness and health. Statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05. Results: Of the 358 included participants, 63.1% met at least one aerobic exercise guideline. Being female, older age, having tetraplegia, and lower educational level were associated with a lower likelihood to meet the aerobic exercise guidelines. Meeting aerobic exercise guidelines showed a positive association with all respiratory and exercise capacity parameters. Limited associations were found between meeting exercise guidelines and health. Conclusions: Meeting exercise guidelines was associated with better respiratory functions and exercise capacity with additional fitness and some body composition benefits in higher exercise activity levels.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Meeting SCI exercise guidelines are associated with better respiratory functions and exercise capacity with additional fitness and body composition benefits when higher exercising at higher activity levels, emphasizing the value and importance of regular exercise in individuals with SCI.