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Adherence and Injury
Chapter 3 – Methods
Adherence rates and any injury/illness (adverse effect) were recorded
throughout the study. For the purposes of this study, an adverse effect
was defined as “any occurrence that caused a participant to miss a
scheduled training or assessment session”. If any adverse effects were
reported, details surrounding the event, e.g. its cause and effect and if it
was believed to be associated with training or assessment, were
reported.
Statistics
Performance in all of the assessments at each of the four time-points
(Pre 1, Pre 2, Post 1 and Post 2) was described by the group means and
standard deviations. As demonstrated by the results of paired T-tests,
there were no significant differences in any dependent variable between
Pre 1 and Pre 2 sessions. Therefore pre-exercise data was averaged to
give a better representation of performance. In order to maximise the
statistical power of the analyses, paired t-tests were then used to
determine if strength, manual dexterity and quality of life were
significantly improved at Post 1 and Post 2 in comparison to the mean
baseline scores (McDonald, 2009). Significance in the current study was
set at p < 0.05. Magnitude of effect was determined by calculating an
adaptation of Cohen’s effect size (ES). Percent change scores were also
calculated between the pre-exercise data and the Post 1 and Post 2 data,
with such data presented in Figures within the Results section.
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