Based on the linked source; automatically prepared and checked against the original report.
Study design
Researchers pooled data from four studies conducted between 2014 and 2023 involving 60 community-dwelling adults with paraplegia. Participants were 45 years old on average, had been injured for about 16 years, and had neurological injury levels from T2 to L2. Individually calibrated Actiheart wearable data were analysed across roughly six days, with participants wearing the devices for 95% of each day on average.
Activity estimates
The cohort’s mean physical activity level was 1.44, while participants recorded approximately 177 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week. Regression modelling indicated that about 519 weekly minutes could correspond to the standardised physical activity level of 1.75 used in FAO, WHO and UNU guidance. The proposed figure includes ordinary moderate-to-vigorous lifestyle activity.
Implications and limitations
The authors report that research-grade wearable outputs did not align with either the spinal-cord-injury recommendation of 90 weekly minutes or the general-population recommendation of 150 minutes. Those recommendations describe additional activity beyond normal lifestyle activity. The researchers caution that, without this distinction, clinicians, researchers or people with spinal cord injury could mistakenly believe wearable readings show that recommendations have been substantially exceeded. The record identifies the work as a preprint, not peer-reviewed evidence.
