Sports habits of hearing impaired people in the Northern Great Plain region of Hungary

Abstract

Although hearing impaired people represent a significant group of handicapped people, only a few studies examine their physical activities. This study was performed in the Spring of 2019 in Debrecen, Hungary by recruiting 86 hearing impaired people. Here the frequency and type of their physical activity as well as their motivation was examined. Average age of the subjects was 42.0±16.9 years, 41.9% of them performs regular physical activity. Out of them 54.1% excercises twice a week, the rest even more often. Soccer, jogging, and cycling were the most preferred sports. Percentage of hearing impaired people performing regular physical activity was about the same as it was for people with normal hearing. Reason for motivation – it makes them happy and they feel better due to the physical activity – or staying at home – their health condition limits them and they have little free time – was also similar in both groups. However, 80% of the people with impaired hearing preferred to do physicial activity together other hearing impaired.