title: Participation in sport in persons with spinal cord injury in Switzerland.
abstract: METHODS
  Secondary data analysis of a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Switzerland.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the frequency of participation in sport (PiS) and to identify correlates for PiS in persons with SCI in Switzerland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community sampleMethods:Frequency of PiS was assessed retrospectively for the time before the onset of SCI and the time of the survey using a single-item question. A comprehensive set of independent variables was selected from the original questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses and ordinal regressions were carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 505 participants were analyzed. Twenty independent variables were selected for analyses. PiS decreased significantly from the time before the onset of SCI to the time of the survey (P<0.001). Sport levels were significantly lower in women than men for the time of the survey (P<0.001), whereas no difference was observed before onset of SCI (P=0.446). Persons with tetraplegia participated significantly less often in sport than persons with paraplegia (P<0.001). Lesion level, active membership in a club, frequency of PiS before the onset of SCI and the subjective evaluation of the importance of sport correlate with PiS. When controlling for gender differences, only the subjective importance of sport for persons with SCI determines PiS, particularly among women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Persons with tetraplegia and women need special attention when planning interventions to improve PiS. Furthermore, the subjective importance of sport is important for PiS, particularly among women, whereas most other factors were only weakly associated with PiS.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Public Health and Health Service Research, Research Unit for Biopsychosocial Health, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology-IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research (SPF), Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fekete
authors.affiliation: Chair of Public Health and Health Service Research, Research Unit for Biopsychosocial Health, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology-IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oberhauser
authors.affiliation: 1] Swiss Paraplegic Research (SPF), Nottwil, Switzerland [2] Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne and SPF, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: 1] Chair of Public Health and Health Service Research, Research Unit for Biopsychosocial Health, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology-IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany [2] Swiss Paraplegic Research (SPF), Nottwil, Switzerland [3] Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cieza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland