Relationship between strength and self-perception of independence in activities of daily living of paraplegic adults

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine whether there was a relationship between relative strength development and self-perception of independence in adults with paraplegia six weeks after a physical activity intervention. For this purpose, a sample of eight people with paraplegia was evaluated, five men and three women, with a mean age of 29.5 ± 5.17 years, with spinal cord injury below D5, and who had not performed physical activity previously. The relative strength index was used to measure body capacity together with the Barthel index questionnaire to evaluate independence in activities of daily living. The results showed a very high significant Pearson's correlation coefficient between changes in relative strength and the questionnaire (.93), as well as an 87.1 % coefficient of determination. The mean percentage increase in the participants' relative strength was 25.52 %, accompanied by a 16.54 % increase in the questionnaire score. In conclusion, there was a direct relationship between relative strength and the self-perception of adults with paraplegia of their independence in daily life, which shows that an intervention programme leads to significant changes in relative strength and self-perception of independence.