Abstract
Introduction: Evidence around physical activity (PA) maintenance remains limited due to the inconsistent conceptualization of the term maintenance, as well as a limited understanding as to what supports PA maintenance, especially in a physical disability context. The purpose of this configurative review is to explore how PA maintenance is described or assessed, and to identify repeated characteristics that could be identified as conceptual attributes of PA maintenance within the physical disability population.
Methods: This configurative review consists of a two-stage iterative literature search. The first stage is a review of known articles within PA maintenance literature. Content of the articles are examined to identify key constructs or characteristics of PA maintenance. The second stage is a systematic search, guided by the literature reviewed in the first stage with a focus on physical disability.
Results: Stage one of the literature search yielded 11 articles. Preliminary results identified that maintenance is characterized by consistent volume of behaviour and is attributed to self-regulation, self-efficacy, PA identity, enjoyment or satisfaction with PA, and a stable physical and social environment. Stage two will expand upon the search of maintenance attributes with a focus on physical disability.
Discussion: The identified attributes from stage one are mainly social-cognitive in nature. The stage two search may need to expand to identify if social and physical environment and policy factors exist to support PA maintenance. The outcomes of this review will serve as guidance for future research to operationalize and evaluate PA maintenance among adults with physical disability.
