Disclosures: Daniela A. Iliescu, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: Our study seeks to use qualitative and quantitative research techniques to identify the themes influencing the participation of athletes with disabilities in adaptive team sports, and to determine their self-identity as athletes.

Design: Cross-sectional mixed methods design.Setting : Participants were recruited at sled hockey, wheelchair rugby and basketball, bocce, blind soccer and goal ball practices.Participants : A total of 42 adaptive team sports participants were included. Of those, one third were male, aged between 10 and 48 years old, with various physical disabilities.

Interventions: The qualitative component consisted of semi-structured interviews which sought to determine perceived benefits, barriers, and facilitators to adaptive sport participation, while the quantitative component included a series of standardized patient-reported outcome measures (PROMIS) of physical, social, and mental health functioning.

Main Outcome Measures: Interviews were transcribed and coded utilizing comparative analysis according to common themes. Also, the scores from the PROMIS questionnaires were compared to the scores of the United States general population.

Results: Qualitative analysis identified the most common themes that influence participation in adaptive sports were social benefits, mental and physical health, motivators to start sport, and facilitators to continue involvement. Finances, medical setbacks, transportation and awareness of sport were the most common barriers for participation. Additionally, 95% of participants identified as an athlete. Quantitative analysis revealed adaptive sports participants reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction with social roles than the general population. Conversely, participants’ self-efficacy for managing social interactions, adult pain interference and pediatric life satisfaction did not differ significantly from the general population.Conclusions: Results suggest that this population of adaptive sports participants experienced similar or improved physical, social, and mental health functioning compared to the general population. Despite encountering barriers to participation in an adaptive team sport, the overwhelming benefits of participation allow the majority of the participants to thrive in their physical and psychosocial health and to identify as athletes.

Level of Evidence: Level IV

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/athlete-identity-and-common-benefits-and-barriers-to-sport-participation-amongst-adaptive-team-sport-participants/