Resumo O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a percepção da qualidade de vida (QV) dos atletas paralímpicos das modalidades de atletismo e natação. Tratou-se de um estudo descritivo e de corte transversal com 32 paratletas, sendo 22 de atletismo e 10 de natação. Para avaliação da QV foi utilizado o questionário de avaliação abreviado da qualidade de vida da Organização Mundial da Saúde. Para análise dos dados foi utilizado o teste de Shapiro-Wilk; como os dados apresentaram distribuição não paramétrica, foi adotada a apresentação descritiva em mediana (Md) e intervalo interquartílico (Q1; Q3). Para comparar a QV em função do gênero e do patrocínio, foi utilizado o teste de “U” de Mann-Whitney, e para comparar a QV entre o nível de escolaridade, foi utilizado o teste de Kruskal-Wallis. Observou-se entre os domínios de QV que o domínio meio ambiente obteve o menor índice e o domínio social obteve o maior índice entre os paratletas pesquisados. Em relação aos subgrupos mais prejudicados os menores valores encontrados foram entre os paratletas com níveis de escolaridades fundamental I e nível superior, que apresentaram diferenças nos domínios ambientais e de QV geral, fundamental I com ensino médio, apenas na QV geral e fundamental II com ensino superior, apenas no domínio ambiental. Não foram constatadas diferenças significativas na percepção da QV entre os paratletas com e sem patrocínio, e entre as modalidades atletismo e natação. Conclui-se que os atletas paralímpicos que possuem menor nível de escolaridade apresentaram-se como os grupos com menores percepções de QV.

Abstract The objective of the present study was to evaluate the perception of the quality of life (QoL) of Paralympic athletes of athletics and swimming. It was a descriptive and cross-sectional study with 32 Paralympic athlete. To evaluate the QoL, the questionnaire of abbreviated quality of life evaluation of the World Health Organization was used. For the analysis of the data the Shapiro-Wilk test was used; because the data presented non-parametric distribution, the descriptive presentation was adopted in median (Md) and interquartile range (Q1; Q3). To compare QoL according to gender and sponsorship, the Mann-Whitney “U” test was used, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the QoL between the level of schooling. There was a lower perception of QoL in the environmental domain and a greater perception in the social domain among the parathletes surveyed. In relation to the most impaired subgroups, the lowest values were found among paratrans with primary and higher levels of schooling presented differences in environmental domains and general QoL, fundamental I with secondary education, only in general and fundamental QoL II with higher education, only in the environmental domain. There were no significant differences in the perception of QoL between Paralympic athlete with and without sponsorship, and between athletics and swimming modalities. It is concluded that Paralympic athletes who have lower level of schooling presented themselves as the groups with lower perceptions of QoL.

Abstract Aims: The Swimming has numerous benefits in the physiological, psychological, social and cognitive aspects for the person with spinal cord injury. However, the process of learning the swim must be done in order to take advantage of the potential and the motor functions of the swimmer, through the planning of actions and teaching strategies that seek an effective swim with the fewest adaptations possible and respecting the specific conditions of the lesion. The objective was to verify how the teacher evaluates the motor function of the swimmer with the SCI and to understand how this instructional process acts in the learning of swimming through the perspective of the teacher. Methods: Participated in the research, twelve Physical Education teachers, who work with spinal cord injury swimmers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a field diary. Results: The results demonstrated that, depending on the teaching style adopted by the teacher, he does not consider the student’s feedback and perception. He acts only on the results and possibilities he sees. Therefore, in the teacher’s view, the adaptability of the swimming technique is conditioned to the motor limitation of the individual with SCI, or according to the teacher’s perspective on the functionality. Conclusion: We conclude that the use of strategies based on the traditional swimming technique showed that there is little awareness or lack of knowledge about the work of promoting the swimmer’s motor function, confirmed to the extent that the contribution of the specific literature is incipient and does not satisfy the teacher’s desire for knowledge.