Cardinal, B. J., Kosma, M., & McCubbin, J. A. (2005). Factors influencing the exercise behavior of adults with physical disabilities. Medical Science Sports Exercise, 36(5), 868-875.

The research in this article is geared toward finding out how behavioral, cognitive, and environmental factors differentially associated with the stage of change (transtheoretical model of behavior change) for exercise behavior among adults with physical disabilities. There were 322 adult subjects with a variety of physical disabilities. Most used some form of assistive device, were female and Caucasian with a mean age of 52.5 years. Self reported questionnaires were used to estimate the degree to which the process of change, self-efficacy, decisional balance, and exercise barriers were associated with the stage of exercise change. The results showed that all of the constructs tested were statistically significant. This shows that the transtheoretical model behavioral change is a reliable tool to assess the exercise behavior of people with physical disabilities as well as the general population.

For the full abstract, go to http://www.ncpad.org/600/2548/Factors~influencing~exercise~behavior~ in~physical~disabilities.