Physical conditioning and altered self-concept in rehabilitated hemipelegic patients.

Level of physical conditioning and self-concept are two factors important to all functions of physically disabled persons, both during and after formal rehabilitation. The level of physical conditioning as a determinant of physical fitness and functional status and the measure of self-concept as a determinant of behavior were studied in seven hemiplegic patients who had completed a formal rehabilitation program. Before the rehabilitation program, subjects were physically deconditioned and had altered self-concepts, including lowered self-esteem and other devaluations of the self. Following a 12-week physical conditioning program, subjects demonstrated improvements in physical fitness and functional status and a return to more normal values in some aspects of self-concept.