Who makes use of activities and events organized by a consumer organization in the Swiss tetraplegia population?

Abstract

Persons with a physical disability are at risk of exclusion from general leisure and tourism activities that are beneficial for personal development, recovery, psychological and physical well-being, quality of life, as well as social inclusion. To overcome barriers to participation, many consumer organisations offer leisure and travel events that are tailored to the specific needs of these persons. Yet, objective evidence regarding the effectiveness of such services is limited. We thus evaluated participation among persons with a tetraplegic spinal cord injury (SCI), who were as members of the consumer organization ‘Swiss Paraplegic Association (SPA)’ systematically invited to make use of holiday and cultural events. The study utilized prospective data from two databases: self-reported data from the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Community Survey 2012 (SwiSCI) and objective data on participation in non-sportive leisure time activities during the period 2012-2017 from the SP YA. We included all subjects with tetraplegia, aged ≥16 years who are SPA members and resident in Switzerland. Univariable and multivariable regression modelling was employed to evaluate determinants of participation. Out of 344 eligible participants 42 (12.2%) participated in any non-sportive events organized by the SPA between 2012 and 2017. Preliminary analyses showed that having a partner and traumatic SCI as origin were associated with increased participation in leisure time activity. In multivariable regression analysis those participants with a partner were twice as likely to participate in any SPA event (trend). Differentiation between cultural events and holidays will be analysed separately and provide additional information. This analysis belongs to one of the rare studies analysing participation in non-sportive leisure time activities in tetraplegics using objective data on participation. Having a partner was the most informative determinant for participation. This information may be highly relevant for the SPA to tailor their offers according to the needs of their customer.