There are roughly 5.5 million wheelchair users in the United States. Most live predominantly sedentary lifestyles, which leads to substantially higher cardiometabolic risk factors when compared to the general population. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are hoping to minimize some of these cardiometabolic risk factors through a new study.
“There are limited exercise options available for wheelchair users to improve their health,” said Jereme D. Wilroy, Ph.D., assistant professor for the UAB Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. “This study has the potential to improve exercise options with a sustainable and scalable solution to improving health outcomes for wheelchair users.”
Wilroy was awarded a $3.3 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health for his study, “Examining the effects of live telehealth exercise training on cardiometabolic outcomes in wheelchair users.”