Participation and Achievement in the Summer Paralympic Games: The Influence of Income, Sex, and Assistive Technology

Global participation at the Paralympic Games has been steadily growing in the past 60 years. However, inequities in relation to geographic representation of Paralympians, sex representation, access to assistive technology, and medal success remain. The objectives of this research are to describe and compare trends in Paralympians’ participation and achievements in the Summer Paralympic Games by income level and sex, including in events requiring assistive products (wheelchairs, hand cycles/trikes, and prostheses). A retrospective secondary analysis of publicly available data was conducted. Participation, sex, and medal tally data were extracted from data available on the International Paralympic Committee website and archives. Data regarding income and population were collected from publicly available data available from the World Bank website. Participation in the Summer Paralympic Games differs significantly by income level ( p = 0.000) with high- income countries sending, on average, more Paralympians than low- and middle-income countries. There is a significant difference between male and female participation ( p = 0.00), with approximately 29% of all Paralympians being female. High-income countries demonstrate significantly higher achievement than low- and middle-income countries ( p = 0.000), including in events requiring assistive products ( p = 0.007). Despite growth in overall participation, low- and middle-income countries remain severely underrepresented in both participation and achievement at the Paralympic Games, especially in the events that require high quality assistive products to succeed. More equitable participation and achievement in the Paralympics may be supported by addressing the barriers for females, for people from low- and low-middle income countries, and for those without access to high quality assistive products required.