Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of a 16-week exercise programme, using either a
hybrid cycle or a handcycle, on cardiovascular disease risk factors in people
with spinal cord injury. PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen individuals with spinal cord
injury >/= 8 years. DESIGN: Multicentre randomized controlled trial. Both the
hybrid cycle group (n = 9) and the handcycle group (n = 10) trained twice a week
for 16 weeks on the specific cycle. Outcome measures obtained pre and post the
programme were: metabolic syndrome components (waist circumference, systolic and
diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and
insulin resistance), inflammatory status (C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin
(IL)-6 and -10), and visceral adiposity (trunk and android fat). RESULTS: For all
outcome measures, there were no significant differences over time between the 2
training groups. Overall significant reductions were found for waist
circumference (p = 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.03), insulin
resistance (p = 0.006), CRP (p = 0.05), IL-6 (p = 0.04), IL-6/IL-10 ratio (p =
0.03), and trunk (p = 0.04) and android (p = 0.02) fat percentage. No significant
main effects for time were observed for systolic blood pressure, triglycerides,
high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, IL-10, and trunk and android fat mass.
CONCLUSION: The 16-week exercise programme, using either a hybrid cycle or a
handcycle, found similar beneficial effects on metabolic syndrome components,
inflammatory status and visceral adiposity, indicating that there were no
additional benefits of functional electrical stimulation-induced leg exercise
over handcycle exercise alone.

Langue : ANGLAIS