健康促進計劃對過重之小兒麻痺患者的影響

Although health promotion issues specific to people with physical disabilities have received much attention in the last ten years, related clinical trials studying the efficacy and viability of these programs are lacking. In this pilot study, we implemented a short-term health promotion intervention for overweight/obese post-polio survivors. The study design included a three-month intervention containing exercise, diet education and health behavior modification, a before-and-after comparison, and a 12-month follow-up. Thirty one subjects were enrolled. They were divided into three groups by their mobility ability. Group 1 was comprised of those who could walk independently without an orthosis; group 2 subjects walked with an orthosis; and group 3 subjects were wheelchair-dependent. Body weight and BMI significantly decreased in groups 2 and 3 (p＜0.05) at all follow-up times. At 3 months, significant decreases in the low-density lipoprotein level were also noted in groups 2 and 3 (p＜0.05). There was no significant improvement in life quality measured by a Short Form-36 questionnaire. Between-group analysis showed no significant differences in all outcome measurements. We concluded that the short-term health promotion program conducted in this study might be helpful in reducing weight in overweight polio survivors. Subjects with different levels of mobility ability did not have different outcomes in the 12-month follow-up.