DOI: 10.14288/1.0216017
OCLC: 1033008691
Introduction: Engaging in rehabilitation activities of a sufficient intensity is necessary for optimal recovery in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Optimizing rehabilitation and activity prescription requires quantification of physical activity and its predictors during this time.
Purpose
To determine, during inpatient rehabilitation, the:
Methods:
Design: A test retest design was used to determine the reliability of physical activity measures (Chapter 2). A longitudinal observation design was used to determine movement repetitions (Chapter 3) and physical activity levels (Chapter 4). A crosssectional observational design was used to determine the level of cardiovascular stress (Chapter 5).
Subjects: Participants (n=108) were recruited from consecutive admissions to rehabilitation.
Results
Chapter 2: Good reliability for accelerometry and step counts, and moderate reliability for self-report, was demonstrated. Validity was demonstrated for wrist accelerometry and step counts but not self-report physical activity.
Chapter 3: Average repetitions did not exceed 300 for the upper or lower extremity. Most repetition variables remained unchanged over the inpatient rehabilitation stay while clinical outcomes improved significantly.
Chapter 4: For most groups and variables, no changes occurred during therapy time from admission to discharge. Outside of therapy all groups increased from admission to discharge in activity kilocounts but not PARA-SCI minutes, where the majority of time was spent in leisure time sedentary activity (~4.5 hours).
Chapter 5: The average time spent at a heart rate within the cardiovascular training zone was 6.0±9.0 minutes in PT and lower in OT. Lower spasticity, higher exercise selfefficacy, and better orthostatic tolerance correlated with a greater amount of time within a cardiovascular training zone.
Conclusions:
Individuals indicate a large amount of time is spent engaged in higher intensity activities. Measurement of heart rate during therapy sessions shows little time is spent at intensities sufficient to accrue cardiovascular benefits. Repetitions in therapy are low compared to the animal literature.