Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball Athletes' Preferences for Topics for Inclusion in a Health-based Website

Abstract

Background: In a review of websites concerning physical activity and persons with physical disabilities, websites were found overall to have low theoretical quality, meaning they did not use evidence-based health behavior change techniques, such as health behavior theory and practice-based evidence, and lacked accurate PA recommendations (Jetha, Faulkner, Gorczynski, Arbour-Nicitopoulos, & Ginis, 2011). The primary purpose of this study was for athletes with disabilities to rank topics on exercise and nutrition by level of importance to aid in the development of a website with health information. A secondary purpose was to identify websites already used by disabled athletes for exercise and nutrition information. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done to collect data from 83 collegiate wheelchair basketball players at the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball tournament. A 41-question survey, developed with the help of members of the priority population, was used to gain information on health related topics of interest for a website. Results: There were 21 of 22 topics that were rated by 51% or more of the athletes as very important or important. In regard to the use of health and fitness websites, 8 of 9 of the sites were not at all viewed by 81% of the athletes, and only four “other” health-related websites were listed by ten respondents. Conclusion: Since few participants visit websites concerning sport and fitness on a frequent basis, one may conclude that creating an online source of health information for athletes with physical disabilities would be of great need.