Feasibility of an Upper Limb Strength Training Program in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury during Primary Rehabilitation—An Uncontrolled Interventional Study

Claudio Perret (), Jolien De Jaegher and Inge-Marie Velstra
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Claudio Perret: Sports Medicine, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland
Jolien De Jaegher: Ambulatory Physiotherapy, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland
Inge-Marie Velstra: Clinical Trial Unit, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-9

Abstract: Data concerning the outcomes of standardized strength-training programs in people with acute spinal cord injury (SCI) are scarce. The present study evaluated the feasibility and effects of a clinic-internal strength-training concept in people with paraplegia during the course of primary rehabilitation. For this purpose, participants followed a 10–12 week standardized supervised strength-training program (30 training sessions) during primary rehabilitation. At the beginning, 5–6 weeks and 10–12 weeks later, maximal strength based on indirect one-repetition maximum (1RM) measurements for two specific exercises (triceps press; horizontal rowing pull) was determined. Twelve out of 17 participants successfully completed the study. Maximal weights for 1RM significantly increased over the 10–12 week training program for the triceps press (+30%; p = 0.018) and the horizontal rowing pull (+41%; p = 0.008). Training compliance was 95%. Reasons for study exclusion were urgent surgery ( n = 2), cardio-respiratory complications ( n = 1), shoulder pain ( n = 1) and a training compliance of less than 50% ( n = 1). In conclusion, a supervised and standardized strength-training program during primary rehabilitation of people with paraplegia is feasible and leads to significant increases in maximal strength. Although study participants showed a high training compliance, factors such as medical complications may impede the proper implementation of a strength-training concept into daily clinical practice.

Keywords: exercise; training; paraplegia; physical therapy; performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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