Review of the status of physical activity research for individuals with traumatic brain injury.

Abstract

To review the current status of physical activity research for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) by using the behavioral epidemiologic framework to categorize the research into 5 unique phases. All articles were published from 2000 to 2012 and retrieved through the electronic databases EBSCOHOST, PubMed, and Google Scholar using keywords "exercise," "physical activity," "health promotion," and "traumatic brain injury." Studies selected for review were peer reviewed and included physical activity research for individuals with TBI. Of the initial 79 articles retrieved, 63 met the criteria for this study. To determine the appropriate phase for each study, researchers determined the main themes of the study and then categorized them into 1 of the 5 phases. Reliability between coders was established at 94%. Of 63 articles, 44% were categorized as phase 1 (establishing connections between behavior and health), 23% as phase 2 (developing methods for measuring behaviors), 22% as phase 3 (examining factors that influence behavior), 6% as phase 4 (evaluation of behavior change interventions), and 5% as phase 5 (dissemination of health promotion programs). The emphasis on phase 1 shows that the field is still in the early stages of maturation, and future research should focus on expansion of research into the higher phases.