Physical activity for weight loss maintenance in people with and without physical disability: The international weight control registry.
Julianne G Clina, R Drew Sayer, James E Friedman and 6 others
PMID 41494932WHAT IT FOUND
People with physical disabilities reported more sedentary time and higher odds of doing no physical activity at all compared to those without.
However, physical activity levels did not differ between those who maintained weight loss and those who regained it.
Key findings
01Participants with a physical disability reported more sedentary time and had significantly higher odds of reporting zero total physical activity compared to those without a disability.
02Among participants with a physical disability, there were no significant differences in physical activity levels between those who successfully maintained weight loss and those who regained weight.
03Within the disability group, those who used assistive devices reported more sedentary time, but there were no significant differences in other physical activity domains compared to those who did not use devices.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study relies on self-reported physical activity, which may be inaccurate. The IPAQ scoring method excludes activity bouts shorter than 10 minutes, potentially underestimating total activity in people with disabilities who may move in shorter bursts. The sample included many people with joint pain or osteoarthritis, who may have fewer functional limitations than those with conditions like spinal cord injury, limiting generalizability to more severe disabilities. Post-hoc power analyses indicated low power to detect small effects in the assistive device subgroup. The study did not measure what types of physical activity were performed, only the amount.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physical activity is ineffective for weight management in people with disabilities. This was an observational study showing association, not causation, and the lack of difference between maintainers and regainers may be due to other unmeasured factors or the specific way activity was measured.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →