Psychological Perspectives of Participation in Physical Activity and Sports among Persons with Mobility Impairments

The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize the scientific literature referring to barriers and facilitators of physical activity participation for individuals with mobility impairments. Using EBSCO and Google Scholar search engines, peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2000-2019 were screened. After extracting research-based articles focusing on participants with mobility limitations 46 articles were retrieved, including eight intervention studies. The outcomes reported in these studies were synthesized referring to theoretical approaches including the theory of reasoned action, the transtheoretical model of change, and self-efficacy theory. A thematic analysis was conducted on study contents. The following categories were constructed. (a) Personal factors, with secondary categories- personal medical condition, personal psychological perception of physical activity practice, and self-efficacy; (b) environmental factors, with secondary categories- physical environment and social environment, each of them also containing tertiary categories, and (c) interventions aimed at increasing physical activity. Practices promoting physical activity participation were recommended.