Physical Activity and Impacts of Visual Impairment

2015 ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
Janet M. Floyd
2021 ◽  
pp. 0145482X2110466
Author(s):  
Justin A. Haegele ◽  
Xihe Zhu ◽  
Sean Healy

Introduction: This study sought to examine: (a) the associations between physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep duration, as discrete behaviors, with depression among adults with visual impairments; and (b) the impact of meeting none, one, two, or three of the guidelines for these behaviors on depression among adults with visual impairments. Materials: One hundred eighty-two ( Mage = 44.8) adults with visual impairments, recruited via email through two visual impairment organizations in the United States, completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form, a sleep duration question, the Major Depression Inventory, and a demographic questionnaire. Based on results from the questionnaires, dichotomous variables for meeting or not meeting physical activity, sleep, and sitting guidelines were created. Data were analyzed using three components: a descriptive analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses. Results: Overall, 14.8% of participants were categorized as having some degree of depression. Meeting the sleep guideline was a significant negative predictor of depression scores in the hierarchical regression analyses. The number of guidelines met was a negative predictor for depression score controlling for other variables. Discussion: Adequate sleep, as well as meeting all three guidelines synergistically, was meaningful in influencing depression among this population. The current study’s results should prompt the continued examination of health-behaviors among adults with visual impairment using a more holistic 24-hour activity cycle framework. Implications for practitioners: This study supports the utilization of multi-behavioral interventions to reduce the risk of depression by enhancing physical activity and sleep, while reducing sitting time, among this population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer B Scally ◽  
Rhiannon Lord

Children with a visual impairment are less active than their sighted peers. Yet, they are born with the potential to match their sighted peers’ motor skill competency and levels of physical fitness. Environmental barriers are one of the main causes of inequities. This article provides insight on these issues, drawing upon a physical activity intervention called ‘First Steps’, a British Blind Sport initiative that aimed to get more children with a visual impairment more active. Physical activity packs were delivered to 53 children, aged 5–15 years, with a visual impairment. Of these participants, 62% had additional impairments or medical conditions. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather participants’ experiences of physical activity prior to receiving this pack and canvas opinion on how the pack changed their activity levels. The findings revealed inequitable experiences of physical activity. The First Steps pack made considerable progress in developing children’s physical activity levels. Participants’ motor skills, social interactions, and confidence improved. Organisations working with this population might look to adopt a similar concept. Recommendations for those wishing to do so are provided.


Author(s):  
Virginia Alcaraz-Rodríguez ◽  
Daniel Medina-Rebollo ◽  
Antonio Muñoz-Llerena ◽  
Jesús Fernández-Gavira

People with visual impairment have greater difficulty in accessing physical activity and sport, and a lack of social interaction is also associated with a risk of exclusion. Work is currently being done to include people with visual impairment through physical activity and sport. However, there is a lack of studies examining the status and overall effectiveness of interventions in the pre- and post-COVID stage. This study aimed to provide solid evidence on the characteristics and effectiveness of interventions for the inclusion of people with visual impairment through physical activity and sport in order to address the need for dissemination on this topic. The bibliographic search was carried out with the words “Physical activity”, “Physical exercise”, “Sport”, “Physical training”, “visual disability”, “visual impairment” and “inclusion” in the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar from 2018 to 2021.The article selection process was according to the PRISMA protocol with a final selection of nine articles. The main results highlighted that the programmes improve the perception of people with disabilities, increase social skills and health and increase the social importance of people with disabilities in the social environment. Among the most generalised conclusions were the need for specialised training, the need for social inclusion and participation of people with visual impairment in their environments and increased physical activity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-66
Author(s):  
Ladislav Bláha

It is more difficult in many ways to carry out physical activities for people with visual impairments. The negative trends of contemporary lifestyle related to the imbalance of energy intake and expenditure may lie on them in the increased rate. They do not have too many opportunities for the energy expenditure. The most commonly reported physical activities of people with visual impairments include walking. But its realization may be associated with a number of problems. The aim of the study was to find out the volume of everyday physical activities in comparison with the passive relaxation and to find out to which extent they are a part of everyday life of people with visual impairments. We investigated the indicators characterizing the applied physical activity and inactivity during the week among the citizens with the visual impairment in the Usti Region (n = 15) using the short version of the IPAQ questionnaire. The acquired data were converted to values MET and MET-min · week–1. In the total volume of reported activities during the week (2 967 MET-min · week–1) there is a big volume of walking (2 222 MET-min · week–1). We tried to objectify the acquired data by using pedometers and it showed low volumes of steps for selected individuals. It turns out that only a small proportion of people with visual impairments fulfil more of the medical recommended criteria. Their lifestyle may suffer from an excess of sedentary activities that may adversely affect health. We recommend supporting their activity by the presence of tracers, improvements in navigation and preparation of specific programmes. We also see the arrangements at the level of local politics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 324-332
Author(s):  
TN Kirk ◽  
Justin A Haegele ◽  
Xihe Zhu

Physical activity and fitness have long been associated with health, yet youth with visual impairments tend to be less active and less fit than their sighted peers. Performance calibration (i.e., the degree to which predictions about performance reflect actual performance) may be a useful conceptual framework to investigate the relationships between perceptions of health-related fitness and measured fitness performance among youth with visual impairments. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive and postdictive performance calibration of youth with visual impairments on a test of cardiovascular fitness. Twenty-five participants (12 female, 13 male, aged 10–17 years) completed a 6-min endurance run test. Before and after the test, participants estimated how far they would run. Based on these data, performance calibration scores were calculated, and variables were correlated. Gender and visual impairment level-based differences were compared using t tests. Participants were generally overconfident in their predicted run scores but underconfident in their postdictions. Results of the present study suggest that youth with visual impairments are generally poorly calibrated with regard to cardiovascular fitness.


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