The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sports participation on physical and mental condition in spinal cord injured subjects. To assess their mental condition, SDS (Self-Rating Depression Scale) was administered to 199 paraplegics and quadriplegics. The subjects were divided into three groups according to their physical activity level ; active, semi-active and inactive group.
　Inactive group had a significantly higher score on SDS (46.3) than active (40.4) and semi-active group (43.1). This finding supports the value of sports participation in relation to mental health. In addition, nine active and ten inactive paraplegics performed maximal arm cranking exercise to evaluate their physical condition. The exercise was terminated by volitional exhaustion, and cardiorespiratory responses were continuously monitored. The peak oxygen uptake of active subjects (28.6 ± 5.5 ml・kg⁻¹・min⁻¹), defined as the highest oxygen uptake during arm cranking exercise, was significantly greater than that of inactive subjects (22.9 ± 3.1 ml・kg⁻¹・min⁻¹). Thus, these results indicated that there existed the positive benefits of sports participation on not only physical fitness but also mental health.

DESCENTE SPORTS SCIENCE Vol.15/THE DESCENTE AND ISHIMOTO MEMORIAL FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION SPORTS SCIENCE