A Study on the Effect of a Regular Exercise Habit on Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults with Cerebral Palsy

This study aimed to investigate the effects of exercise habits and types on the HRQOL of adults with CP, based on the fact that regular exercise habits, such as exercise, physical activity, etc., during leisure time have a positive effect on the improvement of HRQOL. A total of 215 adults (164 Men and 51 Women; 50 Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) Level I, 116 Level II, 24 Level III, and 25 Level IV) with CP but ambulant were recruited for this study. The mean (± SD) age of the subjects was 35.74 ± 9.65 years. They were evaluated using Medical Outcomes Study Short Form–36 (SF-36), the world’s most popular questionnaire for measuring health status, which is used widely in research targeting all healthy and elderly individuals with disabilities and is also used for the evaluation of HRQOL. SF-36 includes 8 subscales with 36 questions. In addition, in order to investigate further into exercise habits and types, four more detailed questions were asked: presence of exercise habits at least once a week; duration of exercise in adults who have exercise habits with CP; weekly exercise frequency; time of a single exercise session. The following are the results of the analysis of variance to confirm the difference in HRQOL depending on the presence of exercise habits in adults with CP. A significant difference was found in all items, except for the BP item, among the subscales of the HRQOL (p < 0.01), with higher values observed for those with exercise habits compared with those with no exercise habits. A significant difference was found in all items, except for BP, among the subscales of HRQOL (p < 0.01). Additionally, a positive (+) correlation was found in RP, VT, RE, MH, and MCS (p < 0.05) in terms of exercise duration in adults who have exercise habits with CP. In addition, a negative (−) correlation was found in SF, RE, and MCS (p < 0.05) in terms of the weekly exercise frequency. However, no significant correlation was found in all subscales of HRQOL in terms of the time of a single exercise session. In conclusion, it has become clear from adults with CP that engaging in regular exercise at least once a week has a positive effect on improving all subscales of HRQOL except for BP. Efforts by individuals, groups, and families all need to be made in order for adults with CP to have regular exercise habits to improve their HRQOL.