Abstract
Study design:
Meta-analysis of cross-sectional, quasi-experimental and experimental studies.
Objective:
To determine if there is an association between physical activity (PA) and subjective well-being (SWB) among people living with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Methods:
Literature searches were conducted using multiple databases (Embase, CINAHL, Medline, PsychINFO and SPORTDiscus) to identify studies involving people with SCI that included a measure of PA and at least one measure of SWB (for example, symptoms of depression, life satisfaction, mood). Relevant data were extracted from the studies and subjected to meta-analysis.
Results:
A total of 21 studies were retrieved yielding 78 effect sizes and a total sample size of 2354. Overall, there were statistically significant, small- to medium-sized effects for the relationships between PA and SWB (broadly defined), PA and depressive symptoms, and PA and life satisfaction. Studies using experimental and quasi-experimental designs yielded larger effects for SWB (broadly defined) and life satisfaction, than studies using nonexperimental study designs.
Conclusions:
There is a small- to medium-sized positive relationship between PA and SWB among people with SCI that holds across a wide range of measures and operational definitions of these constructs.
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Acknowledgements
We thank two anonymous reviewers who provided comprehensive feedback on previous versions this paper. Feedback from Reviewer A resulted in a substantial narrowing of the scope of our meta-analysis and the subsequent exclusion of several studies that were not aligned with the reviewer's definition of subjective well-being. Although removal of these studies had minimal effect on the overall robs, exclusion of these studies did improve the symmetry of the data and narrowed the confidence intervals. Investigators who use alternative conceptualizations of subjective well-being in future meta-analytic reviews may yield somewhat different results from those reported herein. This study was sponsored by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award awarded to KA Martin Ginis.
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Appendices
Appendix A
Physical activity search terms: physical activity, sport, exercise, fitness, training, exercise adherence, leisure, functional electrical stimulation (FES), body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT), standing, ambulation, endurance capacity.
Subjective well-being search terms: subjective well-being, quality of life (QOL), life satisfaction, satisfaction, stress, physical self-concept, depression, anxiety, vigor, mood, perceived health, affect, well-being, confusion, fatigue, hostility, anger, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), body image, self-concept, tension.
Appendix B
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Martin Ginis, K., Jetha, A., Mack, D. et al. Physical activity and subjective well-being among people with spinal cord injury: a meta-analysis. Spinal Cord 48, 65–72 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2009.87
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2009.87
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