FUNCTIONAL PROFILE OF ACTIVE TETRAPLEGICS AND PARAPLEGICS – MALES AND FEMALES – IN DEPENDANCE ON THE LESION LEVEL

ABSTRACT Physical activities and sports may alter positively quality of life; this statement has specific dimensions physically disabled populations; in wheelchair-dependent individuals with medulla lesion the motor activities are roughly limited, on the other side, however, physical activities may contribute to the maintenance and development of the function of the organism. The aim of the study was to evaluate the functional profile, namely body composition, pulmonary function, blood pressure and aerobic capacity indices in active recreationally sporting tetraplegics and paraplegics - males (n= 56) and females (n= 18) a compare the differences in functional indices in individuals classified according to the height of the lesion level into tetraplegics (lesion of segments C 5 -C 8 ) and “higher” paraplegics (height of lesion level Th 1 - Th 10 ) and “lower” paraplegics ( height of lesion level Th 11 - S 5 ). All the subjects were tested by stepwise maximum arm-cranking ergometry, in a synchronous mode, using a frequency independent electromagnetic ergometer. The differences between the groups were revealed both in absolute and in relative values of pulmonary function indices, peak power output, peak oxygen consumption, peak minute ventilation and tidal volume. In many functional indices, there were not significant differences between the group of “higher” and “lower” paraplegics, the group of tetraplegics, however, had demonstrated very low values of many cardio-respiratory indices, significantly (p < 0.05) lower than in both groups of paraplegics. The three groups were not different as regards the relative indices of ventilatory anaerobic threshold (% VO 2 peak, % peak power and % of peak heart rate). The results of the cross-sectional study had confirmed the assumption of the significant dependence of functional capacity on the height of the lesion level, and in addition, they may serve as comparative values for evaluation of performance capacity in men and women with the different height of medullar lesion level.