Qualitative analysis of perceived motivators and barriers to exercise in individuals with spinal cord injury enrolled in an exercise study

This study explores why people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) join exercise programs, what stops them from exercising, and how they think these problems can be solved. The study found that people with SCI wanted to exercise to improve their health, function, and mood. However, they faced barriers like lack of time, motivation, and accessibility. To overcome these barriers, participants suggested scheduling exercise, making it fun, getting home equipment, and finding accessible facilities.

• 1
  The leading reasons reported for enrolling were to improve their physical health (69%), function (61%), and attitude (59%).
• 2
  Commonly reported barriers were time constraints (54%), lack of motivation (31%), accessibility issues (24%), and SCI-specific barriers (23%).
• 3
  Participant-generated solutions were scheduling exercise (47.9%) for time constraints, making exercise more fun (21.8%) to increase motivation.