Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Team Analyzes Adaptive Sport Opportunities at the NCAA Division I Level

Ryan Nussbaum, DO, physiatrist and assistant professor, and Connor Fultz, MD, sports medicine fellow, UPMC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation – along with Samatha Schroth of Northwestern University, Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu, MD, MPH, of Yale University, and Allison Schroeder, MD, of University Hospitals – published “Document analysis of adaptive sport opportunities at Division-1 universities in the United States” in Disability & Health.

Individuals with disabilities are less likely to participate in physical activity, with the greatest decline in participation during college years. Despite known health benefits, there are significant barriers that limit sport and exercise participation for students with disabilities, including adaptive access. To this research team’s knowledge, there has been no comprehensive review conducted to examine the number of adaptive sport offerings on a collegiate level.

The objective of this study is to assess the availability of adaptive sport opportunities for students at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-1 Universities to better understand university-affiliated adaptive sport opportunity for students.

Website document analysis was conducted by systematically querying the general homepage, athletics page, and campus recreation websites of each NCAA Division-1 University in the United States (U.S.). Institutional and sport-related characteristics were recorded.

Of the 358 NCAA Division-1 Universities, 20.4% (73/358) marketed adaptive sport opportunities (recreational, club, and/or intercollegiate), with 3.9% (11/358) acknowledging intercollegiate adaptive sport programs on their websites. Five percent (6/121) of private institutions, and 28.3% (67/237) of public institutions reported adaptive sport opportunities. The northeast region had the fewest number of institutions reporting adaptive sport offerings (4/67, 6.0%). The most commonly offered sport was adaptive recreation (36/358, 10.2%), followed by wheelchair basketball (26/358, 7.4%).

Given their findings, the team concluded that over three-quarters of Division-1 Universities in the U.S. lack an online description of adaptive sport opportunity, highlighting the need for expanded resourcing and marketing of adaptive sport at the university level. Future studies are necessary to identify appropriate strategies to effectively promote sport, maximize participation, and improve social inclusion.

Read the full study.