title: Active Lifestyle Is Associated With Reduced Dyspnea and Greater Life Satisfaction in Spinal Cord Injury.
abstract: To assess the relations between measures of activity with dyspnea and satisfaction with life in chronic spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional survey.
  
  
  
  Five SCI centers.
  
  
  
  Between July 2012 and March 2015, subjects (N=347) with traumatic SCI ≥1 year after injury who used a manual wheelchair or walked with or without an assistive device reported hours spent away from home or yard on the previous 3 days, sports participation, and planned exercise.
  
  
  
  Not applicable.
  
  
  
  Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and dyspnea. Dyspnea was defined as shortness of breath when hurrying on the level or going up a slight hill, going slower than people the same age on the level because of breathlessness, or stopping for breath when going at your own pace, or after about 100yd (or after a few minutes) on the level.
  
  
  
  Dyspnea prevalence was 30%. Adjusting for asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mobility mode, race, and season, there was a significant linear trend between greater SWLS scores and quartiles of time spent away from the home or yard (P=.0002). SWLS score was greater if participating in organized sports (P=.01), although was not significantly greater with planned exercise (P=.093). Planned exercise was associated with a reduced odds ratio (OR) of dyspnea (.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], .34-.95; P=.032), but organized sports was not (P=.265). Dyspnea was not significantly increased in persons who spent the fewest hours outside their home or yard (≤7h) compared with people who spent the most hours outside their home or yard (>23h) (OR=1.69; 95% CI, 0.83-3.44; P=.145).
  
  
  
  In SCI, a planned exercise program is associated with less dyspnea. An active lifestyle characterized by greater time spent away from home or yard and sports participation is associated with greater SWLS scores.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep, and Critical Care Medicine Section, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address: Eric.Garshick@va.gov.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garshick
authors.affiliation: Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, CA.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mulroy
authors.affiliation: Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Graves
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Greenwald
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.affiliation: Spaulding-Harvard Spinal Cord Injury Model System, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, MA; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Leslie R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Morse
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013997:Time Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014910:Wheelchairs; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Exercise; Quality of life; Rehabilitation; Spinal cord injuries