Children and adults with cerebral palsy (CP) perform reduced physical activity (PA) levels and increased sedentary behaviour (SB), which predisposes them to negative health outcomes. SB is characterized in the typically developing population by an energy expenditure component of ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents of task (METs) while sitting, reclining or lying. There is no consensus on an operationalized definition of SB for the CP population. Furthermore, there are no established outcomes to inform guidelines promoting PA in this population. I will address these two research gaps by investigating the operationalization of SB and by identifying important health outcomes of PA, through expert opinions, in individuals with CP. The first chapter is a scoping review of the operationalization of SB in individuals with CP. I found that, in individuals with CP, i) the definition for SB in the typically developing population of ≤1.5 METs generally applies to sitting and lying, and ii) sitting and lying are reported as operationalizations of SB. The second chapter was a conference-based survey to identify critical and important health outcomes for PA in individuals with CP. Clinicians and researchers (n=55) who attended a workshop on PA in CP rated nine pre-determined health outcomes on a 9-point Likert-type scale from the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation Approach. The experts identified both the psychological aspects of health (i.e. anxiety and depression) as being critical. The physical health outcomes rated as critical were sleep, nutrition, and cardiorespiratory endurance, and those rated as important were body size, body composition, blood lipids and glucose, and blood pressure. Together, this research suggests that the operationalization of SB in individuals with CP is similar to that of the typically developing population, and that both the physical and mental aspects of health must be considered in future PA management. / Thesis / Master of Science Rehabilitation Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/25719 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Xiong, Julia (Shi-Peng) |
| Contributors | Gorter, Jan Willem, Rehabilitation Science |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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