The Effects of Sport Participation for Adults With Physical or Intellectual Disability: A Scoping Review

Background : Adults with physical or intellectual disability are less active than those without disability. Objective : To review literature regarding sport participation in adults with physical or intellectual disability. Speci fi cally, to examine characteristics of available studies including participants, interventions, outcomes, and impact. Methods : A scoping review was completed. Searches of 6 databases and a trial registry plus citation tracking were undertaken. Two independent reviewers screened items for eligibility and extracted data about the studies, participants, interventions, and outcomes. A single reviewer extracted data to quantify impacts of sport participation, classi fi ed as favorable, insigni fi cant, or unfavorable. Results : 164 studies involving 11,642 participants were included. Most studies (128/164) used a cross-sectional design. Most participants were men (81%) with physical disability (135/164), and spinal cord injury was the most prevalent underlying health condition (54%). Most studies evaluated a mix of sports (83/164) in a disability-speci fi c context (159/164), with basketball or wheelchair basketball being the most common individual sport (28/164). Physical impairment was the most frequently reported outcome domain (85/334 results). Sports participation impact was classi fi ed as 55% favorable, 42% insigni fi cant, and 3% unfavorable. Conclusions : There were many favorable and few unfavorable outcomes for participation in sport for adults with physical or intellectual disability. More research is needed to address the evidence gaps of gender, health condition, and type of sport, and to use more rigorous research designs to evaluate the effects of sport participation. While new evidence is generated, we suggest adults with physical or intellectual disability be encouraged to engage in sport. Registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42018104379.