Session Information
Session Time: None. Available on demand.
Disclosures: Stephanie M. Green, DO: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Background and/or Objectives: The primary aim of this project was to determine the progress of participants in an adaptive snow sports program for children and young adults with disabilities. The secondary goal of this study was to determine the common characteristics of participants in this program.
Design: Retrospective Cohort Study
Setting: Winter ski resort
Participants: 113 participants, who participated in at least 2 ski or snowboard sessions
Interventions: At least two adaptive ski and snowboard sessions, with trained adaptive instructors
Main Outcome Measures: Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors skill levels (from 1-novice to 9-expert); Cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and independence scores, as rated by trained instructors on a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the highest.
Results: There were a total of 113 participants included. The median number of sessions per participant was 4 with a range from 2-65 sessions. The median duration of participation was 2 years (range 2-10 years). A Wilcoxon-rank sum test demonstrated an improvement in final skill level compared to baseline (p < 0.0001), with an average increase of 1.2 skill levels per participant with an average increase of 0.48 skill levels per year of involvement. There were also improvements from the initial session to the final session in all secondary outcomes: cognitive (p=0.07), social (p=0.002), emotional (p=0.018), physical (p < 0.0001), and independence (p < 0.0001) scores. The most common diagnoses of participants were visual impairment, blindness, autism, and spina bifida/spinal cord injury.
Conclusions: This study showed improvements in all measured domains during participation in an adaptive snow sports program. Evaluating the effectiveness of adaptive sports programs provides important information to set participants’ expectations, determines goals of the program for trainers, and shows the benefit of this program to outside entities.
Level of Evidence: Level III
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Green SM, McLaughlin MJ, Fisher M. Improvement on the Slopes: The Impact of an Adaptive Snow Sports Program on Children and Young Adults with Disabilities [abstract]. PM R. 2022; 14(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/improvement-on-the-slopes-the-impact-of-an-adaptive-snow-sports-program-on-children-and-young-adults-with-disabilities/. Accessed September 7, 2024.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2022
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/improvement-on-the-slopes-the-impact-of-an-adaptive-snow-sports-program-on-children-and-young-adults-with-disabilities/