Facilitators and barriers for participation in sports and physical activity for children with lower limb absence: A Systematic Review.

Abstract

Background: Sports and recreational activities offer physical and psychological benefits to children with limb absence. Understanding what facilitators and barriers exist for the participation in sports and physical activity is vital to aid stakeholders to continue enabling facilitators and develop means to tackle existing barriers, so that all children with lower limb absence can participate in sport and physical activity as they wish. Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to identify facilitators and barriers that children with lower limb absence experience when wanting to participate in sports and physical activity. Study Design: Systematic Review. Methods: Five databases were used to identify literature relating to facilitators and barriers to sports and physical activity for children with lower limb absence. These were Medline, Scopus, Cochrane, SPORTDiscus and CINAHL. Google scholar was used as a secondary source. The review followed the “Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis” (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: The review identified 10 articles for inclusion that met pre-defined inclusion criteria. The identified peer-review articles date from 1999 – 2021. The number of published articles steadily increases up to 2010 and then increase rapidly from 2016 - 2021. Conclusion: The results show whilst there are facilitators for sports participation for children with limb absence, there are many barriers which continue to hinder many children from participating in sports and physical activity. Facilitators that exist include advancements in prosthetic design and technology, increased opportunities, and physical and social benefits. Barriers that were reported include prosthesis failure, stigma, and high costs.