Abstract
The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version-2 (MAIA-2) is a self-report measure of interoceptive sensibility. MAIA-2 is reported in healthy adults or adults with mental disorders. Yet, interoceptive awareness is also important in adults with spinal cord injury (SCI), because recognizing subtle body cues can help them avoid pressure sores by repositioning, treat urinary tract infections quicker. However, studies identifying interoceptive awareness deficits in adults with SCI are lacking. Moreover, we investigated whether interoceptive awareness in adults with SCI could be improved with body awareness training, such as Qigong or cognitive multisensory rehabilitation (CMR). Our aims were to (1) establish differences in MAIA-2 between community-dwelling healthy adults and adults with SCI; (2) evaluate changes in MAIA-2 from baseline to postbody awareness interventions, and (3) to follow-up.
Observational (comparison baseline data healthy vs adults with SCI) and quasi-experimental intervention design (pre-post-body awareness intervention + follow-up assessments in adults with SCI).
General community + university setting.
We recruited community-dwelling healthy adults and adults with SCI ≥1 year before testing. We recruited 554 healthy adults (H), average age, 51±17 years, 354 women, two women with nonbinary gender identification, one agender person; 8 Hispanic; and 11.19% of diverse race. We recruited 56 adults with SCI (S), average age 54±12 years, 24 women, one Hispanic; 17.86% of diverse race; 11±10 years post-SCI; 23.21% with complete SCI. Of those, 18 practiced Qigong and 16 completed CMR.
Adults with SCI practiced Spring Forest Qigong (online video) for 12 weeks (3x/wk, 45 min/session) + 6-week follow-up; or in-person CMR for 8 weeks (3x/wk, 45 min/session) + 3-month follow-up.
MAIA-2 was assessed at baseline in both groups, and postintervention + follow-up in the SCI group. We used t tests to compare MAIA-2 in healthy vs SCI groups at baseline, and repeated-measure analysis of variance in adults with SCI.
At baseline, adults with SCI were better at noticing (average MAIA-2: S, 3.42±1.22; H, 3.12±1.01; P=.04) and attention regulation (S, 3.44±0.95; H, 2.75±0.97; P<.0001). Healthy adults were better at not being distracted than adults with SCI (S, 1.75±1.14; H, 2.38±0.99; P<.0001). Compared to the baseline, self-regulation (P=.02), and trusting (P=.004) improved after body awareness training. Not-worrying (P=.009), self-regulation (P<.0001), body listening (P=.004), and trusting (P=.002) improved between baseline and follow-up.
Body awareness training such as Qigong and CMR can improve interoceptive awareness, in particular, not-worrying, self-regulation, body listening, and trusting. Validation in a larger SCI sample is needed.
none.