Wheelchair basketball: fitness and quality of life

Abstract: The study aimed to assess the physical activity (PA) level, subjective perception of quality of life (QOL), muscle strength, flexibility, and agility in wheelchair basketball (WB) players from Pelotas/RS. The sample consisted of 10 WB amateur athletes. For muscle strength, it was applied three isometric handgrip tests - maximum handgrip test (MIHS in kgf), sub-maximum handgrip test (to assess strength endurance at 70% of MIHS (70MIHS in s) and scapular isometric test (SIS), - and two isotonic tests to measure strength endurance (maximum repetitions in 1 min) in: i) elbow flexor muscles (EFS) and ii) shoulder abductors (SAS). To evaluate agility, it was conducted adapted 20-m Shuttle Run (SR). For flexibility, it was adopted Apley’s and Back Stretch tests. Physical activity and QOL were measured by IPAQ and WHOQOL–bref, respectively. After that, descriptive statistics and t test were used with significance level at 5%. The performance in MIHS, 70MIHS, SIS, EFS, SAS and Apley’s test was, respectively, 46.17±5.06 kgf, 49.31±15.75 s, 28.44±11.53 kgf, 37.10±9.89 reps, 28.30±6.56 reps and 12.70±10.94 to right side and 47.51±8.98 kgf, 45.41±11.28 s, 30.75±12.64 kgf, 40.40±7.79 reps, 29.80±5.55 reps and 13.35±5.06 cm to left side. The athletes reached 93.00±10.92 cm in the Back Stretch (cm) test and 16.23±1.93 s in the SR. They showed 736±120 min/week of moderate and 467±191.4 min/week of vigorous PA, and the WHOQOL-bref overall score was 67.62±5.45 au. The WB players exhibited QOL near from reference values and superior performance in agility test when compared with people with physical disabilities from other sports.