Current injury or disability as a barrier to being more physically active

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the extent to which a current injury or disability is a significant barrier to being more active.

Methods: Data on current injury or disability as a reported barrier to being more physically active were extracted from an urban-representative population survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses assessed the association between gender, educational attainment, age, body mass index, and current physical activity levels with injury or disability as a barrier.

Results: Twenty percent of the survey respondents gave current injury or disability as a reason for not being more active. There were no significant differences between male and female subjects. There was a significant trend toward a higher reporting of current injury or disability as a barrier, with increasing age (P < 0.001). High body mass index (P < 0.001) and current physical activity levels (P < 0.05) were significantly related to the injury or disability barrier. The only variables significantly independently associated in multivariate logistic regression analyses were age and body mass index.

Conclusions: Current injury or disability as a barrier to increased physical activity was independently, and significantly, associated with both age and body mass index, after adjusting for other variables. The promotion of increased physical activity to older and overweight groups should focus on safe activities that do not aggravate previous injuries or disabilities.