ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Sailing is a sport that can help in the rehabilitation of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) patients and improve their quality of life. Teaching methodology in sailing has always been considered as complex, due to the great amount of uncertainty that this sport has. PURPOSE: To design a protocol for teaching adapted sailing in a simulated situation for people with SCI and to know the effect of the teaching protocol on learning, effort perception and heart rate. METHOD: Six adults were patients recruited at the National Hospital of Paraplegics of Toledo (Spain), aged between 31 and 54 years, who have passed the early subacute phase. Each subject underwent semi-immersive virtual reality sailing therapy for 40â min per session three times per week for six weeks, 18 sessions. A simulated adapted sailing initiation program VSail-Trainer® was used for the simulator therapy. During this session, the basic notions of sailing, wind direction, sheet trimming and control of the boat on different courses were explained. The variables assessed were: sailing learning, heart rate and effort perception. RESULTS: The comparison of performance variables between pretest and posttest resulted differences in boat speed, heel and Velocity Made Good (VMG). These improvements in the performance variables are also reflected in the average times taken by the subjects to complete the regatta. CONCLUSION: The methodology used in this study can be used as a guide for learning the activity by new SCI patients in rehabilitation who want to get into sailing sport.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study aims to develop a sailing simulation-based therapeutic rehabilitation program for individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) during the subacute phase of the injury. METHODS: Participants were 11 patients, aged between 20-56 years (Mage = 42.36, SDage=12.90), who were randomly assigned into experimental group and control group, within a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design. While both groups followed the rehabilitation programmed by the hospital, experimental group participants were enrolled in an interactive rehabilitation exercise (The vSail-Access®, Virtual Sailing Pty Ltd). For this intervention, each subject underwent a semi-immersive Virtual Reality (VR) navigation therapy for 30-40 min per day, three times per week for six weeks. Quality of life (QoL), functionality and balance variables were measured for both groups one week before and after the intervention. Data was generated based on patients' responses using validated questionnaires and tests. A 2 (groups) × 2 (test-time) MANOVA was performed to detect between-group and within-group differences. RESULTS: Significant improvements were obtained in the experimental group in the mobility and balance variables, and in the global result of QoL. CONCLUSIONS: The sailing simulation program, included as a therapy within the rehabilitation process after a SCI, provides participants with an overall increase in QoL and functionality.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILIATIONVirtual reality is a therapy that can be part of the rehabilitation process of spinal cord injuries in the acute phase, improving functional capacity.The initiation to recreational sailing in a virtual way is a safe tool for the initiation to the practice of sports.The practice of a dynamic sport, such as sailing, helps to improve the quality of life in spinal cord injuries.
