Disclosures: Cindy C. Tiu, DO: Nothing to disclose

Objective: Understand why people with spinal cord injury (SCI) enrolled in an online exercise trial, what barriers to exercise they cited, and their plans to address these barriers.

Design: Qualitative study of participant responses during a 16-week online exercise trial where they completed weekly online modules that included completing skill building activities.

Setting: Nationwide online platform.

Participants: Eligible individuals experienced a SCI > 6 months, required wheelchair use outside the home, and reported <150 minutes of aerobic physical activity/week. Qualitative data from participant responses were analyzed by identifying themes that emerged from responses to online activities. Two researchers independently read and coded all responses. All disagreements were discussed and final coding decisions were unanimously achieved with the principal investigator.


Interventions: N/A

Main Outcome Measures: Identified and quantified reported barriers and purposes to exercise.

Results: Participants (n=111) average age was 49.6 years old. Health reasons were the leading reasons participants enrolled in the exercise trial. 64.9% of participants stated they joined the program to improve their health and 56.8% reported a desire to improve their function. Time was the leading exercise barrier (53.8%) and 27.7% reported accessibility issues. Participant-generated solutions to address time constraints included scheduling exercise (68.2%) or using friends or technology support (15.9%). Accessibility solutions included locating accessible facilities (30%) and obtaining self equipment (25%).

Conclusions: Health issues similar to the general population were the primary reason people with SCI enrolled in the study. SCI-specific issues, such as improving function was a highly reported purpose to enroll in the exercise intervention. The most reported barriers were lack of time and accessibility. Accessibility issues included lack of accessible facilities, equipment, and need for self-advocacy. This SCI sample suggested using technology to support their exercise efforts. Intervention approaches to promote exercise for people with SCI should address issues faced by those in the general population as well as SCI-specific issues.

Level of Evidence: Level II

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/qualitative-analysis-of-the-reasons-people-with-sci-opt-to-enroll-in-an-exercise-program-and-their-barriers-to-participation/