PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH-RELATED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN A COHORT OF SUBJECTS WITH CHRONIC SPINAL CORD INJURY. Karen J. Hutchinson*1; Jayme Bannon2 1. Physical Therapy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; 2. Physical Therapy, St. Anthony's Central Hospital, Denver, CO PURPOSE: To assess factors that contribute to participation in health and fitness activities in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). BACKGROUNDS/SIGNIFICANCE: Subjects with spinal cord injury are at a greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes compared to their non- disabled counterparts. Therefore, efforts to increase physical activity to combat risk factors for cardiovascular disease (such as obesity and hypertension), in subjects with SCI, are critical. An understanding of current exercise habits of subjects with SCI is important in identifying where the greatest risks for the lack of participation in exercise programs lie. SUBJECTS: Five hundred subjects were selected from the Shepherd Hospital′s Database (Atlanta, GA). Inclusion criteria: subjects were at least 18 yrs of age and at least 5 years post traumatic SCI. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A 29 item questionnaire was mailed with a SASE to all participants and 120 completed instruments were returned(25% response rate). Multiple choice, fill in and Likert Scale questions were developed based on previous pilot work (Hutchinson, K. et al. Activity Level and Musculoskeletal Pain in Subjects Greater than Five Years Post Spinal Cord Injury. Neurology Report: Dec. 2002;26(4):190-191.) ANALYSES: Descriptive statistics were run on all questions. A priori comparisons were analyzed using Chi-square for categorical data. SPSS v 11.01 was utilized. RESULTS: Demographic data: 93 males and 27 females responded (Cervical=57, Thoracic=47, LumboSacral=16). Forty-six percent were manual wheelchair users, 45% utilized power chairs and 8% were ambulatory for at least part of the day. Subjects were asked to note the frequency with which they participated in aerobic or strength training exercise on a weekly basis. The majority of subjects with SCI, regardless of their injury level, do not participate in any exercise outside of activities for daily living (p=.023). A subject was less likely to exercise if they had a cervical injury (68% no-ex) versus a thoracic (51% no-ex) or Lumbosacral lesion (44% no-ex). Mode of mobility also played a significant role in identifying exercise participation. Alarmingly, 74% of power chair users, 45% of the manual wheelchair users, and 40% of the ambulatory subjects in this study do NOT participate in exercise activities. Only 12% of the subjects exercised at an intensity necessary to achieve cardiovascular benefits as identified for able-bodied subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of exercise participation, in subjects with SCI, is significantly greater than the national average for non-disabled healthy adults. Approximately 23% (Crespo et al 1999) to 29% (Pratt et al 1999) of non-disabled adults identify that they do not participate in any physical activity during their leisure time activities vs 68% of the SCI subjects identified here. Given the significant risks to cardiovascular health that are imposed by SCI, concerted efforts are needed to identify barriers-to and to facilitate participation-in exercise programs for subjects with SCI. FUNDING SOURCE: This project was supported by the Northeastern University Physical Therapy Department. KEYWORDS: fitness, spinal cord injury, aerobic activity Copyright 2009 by the American Physical Therapy Association. Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Educators, students, and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy (ISSN 1538-6724) by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Other types of customers who want permission to reprint should contact the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.