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Abstract #108331 Published in IGR 23-4
The profile of athletes with a vision impairment: Exploring demographics and ocular pathologies of athletes in three Paralympic sports
Zenk F; Willmott AGB; Fortin-Guichard D; Austick K; Mann DL; Winckler C; Allen PMAmerican journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation 2023; 0:
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the profile of athletes with a vision impairment (VI) who compete in three Paralympic sports (goalball, VI judo and blind football). DESIGN: Descriptive and association analyses of the VI athletes' profile were conducted. RESULTS: The typical athlete profile was a male (65.1%), aged 26-34 years (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 VI 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. CONCLUSIONS: The homogeneity of the athletes' profile suggests that an effort is needed to target other parts of the VI population to take part in VI sports. Differences in the athletes' profiles across the sports provides information that may be useful for sport-specific talent identification.
Vision and Hearing Sciences Research Centre, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
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