Cerebral palsy affects a person throughout their whole life, while movement impairment and difficulties connected with it influence different areas of a person’s functioning and the quality of their life. Positive effects on quality of life can also be achieved through participation in sports, as people active in sports report of higher quality of life than inactive ones.
In this master’s thesis we tried to establish the possible differences in individual perception of quality of life between people with cerebral palsy who are active in sports and those who are not. 38 people with cerebral palsy took part, out of which 23 were active in sports, and 15 were not. For both groups we created a general assessment of status, subjective evaluation of physical and sports activity, subjective evaluation of motives and obstacles in participating in sports, as well as subjective evaluation of satisfaction in various areas of quality of life.
The comparison of data showed that individuals who are active in sports achieved higher average assessment marks of satisfaction in all areas than those who are inactive; the only exception being accessibility and support, where the average assessment mark was higher with people who are not active in sports. It is of statistical importance that the two groups differ most in the area of social inclusion where three out of six variables showed statistically important differences. Areas of physical well-being, personal development, emotional well-being and self-determination showed statistically important differences in two variables for each area. In areas of material well-being, interpersonal relationships and rights there was only one variable for each where statistically important differences were noticed.
Data analysis showed that people with cerebral palsy who are active in sports are more motivated by good physical condition, pleasure, positive experiences in sports activity, being a role model for other people with cerebral palsy and encouragement from other people with cerebral palsy, as those who are not active in sports. Both groups are most motivated by desire for good physical condition and least motivated by competitive tendencies.
The main obstacles in engaging in sports activities with people who are active in sports are environmental, whereas in people who are not active in sports they are both environmental and interpersonal.
The results have shown statistically important connections between the area of physical well-being, material well-being, social inclusion, interpersonal relationships, personal development, self-determination and the level of movement impairment of the respondents. Connections are negative for all the areas, which means individuals with a higher level of movement impairment gave lower estimates in the above stated areas of quality of life.
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