Profile of Athletes With a Vision Impairment: Exploring Demographics and Ocular Pathologies of Athletes in Three Paralympic Sports.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the profile of athletes with a vision impairment who compete in three Paralympic sports (goalball, vision impairment judo, and blind football). Descriptive and association analyses of the vision impairment athletes' profile were conducted. The typical athlete profile was a male (65.1%), aged 26-34 yrs (39.7%), from Europe (38.8%), representing a country with a high income (46.1%), and was diagnosed with a retinal-related ocular pathology (38.9%). In all three sports, the ages of the athletes were similar. In goalball, most athletes were from Europe, represented countries with a high income, and were diagnosed with retinal-, globe-, or neurological-related pathologies. In vision impairment judo, the majority of athletes were from Asia, represented countries with an upper middle income, and were diagnosed with retinal-, global-, or neurological-related pathologies. In blind football, most athletes were from Europe, represented countries with an upper middle income, and were diagnosed with retinal-, neurological-related ocular pathologies, or glaucoma. The homogeneity of the athletes' profile suggests that an effort is needed to target other parts of the vision impairment population to take part in vision impairment sports. Differences in the athletes' profiles across the sports provide information that may be useful for sport-specific talent identification.