ABSTRACT

Introduction: Participation in sports activities has positive effect on motor skils, psyhological and social aspects of life, contributes to greater functionality and independence of people with disabilities, which increases their quality of life.

Aim: To investigate the impact of sports on the quality of life for people with spinal cord injury.

Materials and methods: The study included 96 people with spinal cord injury, female and male, from the territory of the Republic of Croatia, divided into two categories: 50 people with spinal cord injury who are actively engaged in sports and 46 people with spinal cord injury who are not involved in sports. For the research it was used the Croatian version of the WHOQOL - BREF quality of life questionnaire.

Results: The obtained results showed that there is a statistically significant difference in the perceived quality of life and health of people with spinal cord injury with regard to active sports (p<0.001).

Conclusion: This study found that people with spinal cord injury who are actively involved in sports express a significantly higher level of satisfaction in all domains of quality of life compared to people with spinal cord injury who do not play sports. The obtained results indicate the necessity of educating people with this injury, their families and the community about the importance of engaging in sports activities, as well as the need to include sports activities in the rehabilitation plan and program and designing the implementation of their free time.

Key words: spinal cord injury, sports activity, quality of life