Renato de Carvalho Guerreiro

Jovens com deficiência apresentam baixos níveis de atividade física e poucas oportunidades de prática esportiva, cruciais para o desenvolvimento integral e a inclusão social. Neste contexto, este estudo analisou o recrutamento, seleção e orientação para iniciação esportiva e participação competitiva de jovens com deficiência em um projeto de extensão universitária, em colaboração com o Comitê Paralímpico Brasileiro. O objetivo foi descrever e avaliar uma estratégia para o fomento à iniciação esportiva paralímpica em idade escolar. Esse estudo se trata de um relato de caso de natureza documental retrospectiva com abordagem descritiva analítica, fundamentada em relatórios do projeto e boletins oficiais de competições (Jogos Escolares de Minas Gerais e Paralimpíadas Escolares – PE) de 2022 a 2024. Para análise, empregou-se estatística descritiva e análise comparativa. Os resultados demonstraram que os festivais paralímpicos foram eficazes na divulgação do esporte paralímpico, contribuindo na captação de novos interessados...

Introduction: The participation of people with disabilities (PWD) in physical activity and sports is essential for social inclusion and health promotion. The self-efficacy perceived by professionals greatly influences the success of inclusive practices; higher confidence in adapting activities and addressing diverse needs leads to better experiences for PWD. The self-efficacy scale for physical education teacher education majors toward children with disabilities (SE-PETE-D) measures this construct but lacked a validated Brazilian version. Objective: To translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Brazilian Portuguese version, named EAE-EFI/Brazil. Results: Content validity indices exceeded 0.90 across all subscales. Exploratory factor analysis revealed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > 0.96). Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable model fit (RMSEA 0.90), supporting the original structure for subscales related to physical disability (PD) and visual impairment (VI). Conclusion: The EAE-EFI/Brazil is a valid and reliable tool for assessing physical education teachers’ and students’ self-efficacy concerning inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities, PD, and VI in Brazil. Future studies should evaluate the scale’s applicability in diverse contexts and explore links with professional development and institutional support, advancing inclusive practices and policies in Brazilian education.

The athletic development of young people with disabilities has shifted towards holistic approaches, such as Long-Term Athlete Development, which value physical literacy and global development. Paralympic athletics is a foundational sport and the most practiced modality in the Brazilian School Paralympics. Competitive sports participation is crucial for obtaining classification for athletes with disabilities, in addition to contributing to physical, psychological, and social well-being. Thus, this study aimed to describe the level of competitiveness, map the possible events, and quantify athlete participation in the School Selection (SEs) of school paralympic athletics in Brazil in 2025. To this end, a descriptive and quali-quantitative study was conducted, based on the documentary analysis of official competition bulletins from the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) for the 2025 state SEs. Data were tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics (absolute numbers and percentages). Low competitiveness was observed: 74.95% of the 2112 events had only one registered athlete, resulting in an automatic gold medal. Only 4.7% of the events had more than three participants. Of the over 1200 athletes, 76 (6.2%) did not obtain medals, predominantly those with intellectual disabilities. The results indicate low competitiveness and a significant gap in school paralympic sports participation. It is crucial to strengthen the sports culture by encouraging broad and early participation, aligned with the 'Sport for Life' philosophy, aiming at the integral development and inclusion of youth with disabilities in the national sports scene. Received: 2026/01/04 Reformulated: 2026/03/23 Accepted: 2026/03/24

The unequal distribution of athletes in Brazilian para sports, especially athletics and swimming, has concentrated participation in the Southeast. Since 2021, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) has promoted decentralization strategies, including the 2024 Paralympic Meetings across all federal units. This study analyzed the 2024 geographic distribution of 3,380 athletes (2,255 in athletics; 1,125 in swimming) by sex and disability. Males (69.1%) and athletes with physical disabilities (66.7%) predominated. Participation rose in the North (2.9%→9.2%) and Northeast (11.0%→19.0%) but declined in the Southeast (65.7%→45.7%). Visual impairment (15.5%) and female (30.9%) participation also decreased. CPB actions expanded access but inequalities persist.

Introduction: Parataekwondo is a recent addition to the Paralympic program, and research on training and preparation remains limited. This study aimed to compare training load, sleep, mood, and physical performance in elite para-athletes during the 14 days prior to a national parataekwondo competition. Material and methods: Four Brazilian national team para-athletes were monitored over 14 consecutive days. Sleep was assessed daily using Actigraphy. On days 1, 5, 8, and 12, the athletes were evaluated using the Brazilian Mood Scale (BRUMS), Countermovement Jump (CMJ), Multiple Frequency Speed of Kick Test (FSKTmult), and Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT). After training, the Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) was recorded. The significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: No significant changes were observed in RPE (p = 0.07), training time (p = 0.52), arbitrary units (p = 0.24), CMJ (p = 0.22), reaction time (p = 0.46), or lapses over time (p = 0.44). However, the number of kicks in the FSKTmult was significantly higher on day 12 compared to day 1 (p = 0.04). Total Sleep Time (TST) and Sleep Efficiency (SE) significantly decreased in the second week (TST: p = 0.04; SE: p = 0.05), while mood remained stable, with an iceberg profile. Conclusions: Despite a reduction in sleep duration and quality, the data indicate that mood, reaction time, and general physical performance remained stable, and sport-specific performance improved. These findings highlight the importance of monitoring sleep and performance during pre-competition periods.

Introduction: During sleep deprivation, sustained attention is impacted by homeostatic pressure to sleep and the number of tasks. Objective: to compare the effects of 36h of sleep deprivation on psychomotor performance during a Single-Task Condition (STC) vs Dual-Task Condition (DTC) in university students. Method: During 36 hours of sleep deprivation, the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) was applied to 13 male university students, in the STC and DTC situations, sitting in a chair or standing on a force platform, every 3 hours, totaling 13 evaluations, from 08am on day 1 to 08pm on day 2. Results: There was an effect of time on the STC and DTC in all 13 evaluation moments, in all variables analyzed, except Mean RT and Slowest 10% RT, for a p-value of 0.05. No significant difference was found in the PVT variables in the comparison between the two conditions, despite a trend to significance, in the moments of homeostatic pressure to sleep in the task (05am and 02pm on day 2). Conclusion: Sleep deprivation negatively affected the psychomotor performance of participants in both conditions, demonstrating worsening of sustained attention, greater engagement of standing posture and revealing greater relaxation of sitting posture.

Resumo Introdução O engajamento do sujeito em ocupações significativas ao longo da vida é fundamental. Porém, o envolvimento em algumas ocupações pode dificultar o desempenho de outras igualmente importantes. A carreira paralímpica pode gerar grande complexidade na vida dos paratletas, tornando desafiadora a tarefa de conciliar a rotina de treinos e competições com as suas demais ocupações, principalmente quando tratamos de paratletas que disputam competições a nível internacional. Objetivo Buscou-se identificar o perfil esportivo do paratleta e sua participação em papéis ocupacionais ao longo do tempo. Método Trata-se de um estudo observacional, descritivo, com paratletas brasileiros. Foi utilizado questionário para caracterização da amostra e identificação do perfil esportivo e a Lista de Identificação de Papéis Ocupacionais. Foram utilizadas análises descritivas e inferenciais. Resultados Participaram 80 paratletas brasileiros, de 5 modalidades do esporte paralímpico, em treinamento em dois centros de referência paralímpica. Observou-se que os paratletas perderam desempenho em papéis ocupacionais quando comparados o tempo passado e o presente, e pretendem retornar ou adquirir novos papéis no tempo futuro. Conclusão Alguns papéis ocupacionais com altos níveis de importância para os paratletas ficam em latência, sendo de extrema importância planejar a transição de carreira desses indivíduos para que eles possam se envolver em novas perspectivas ou retomar ocupações significativas.

Introduction The engagement of individuals in meaningful occupations throughout life is fundamental. However, involvement in certain occupations may hinder performance in others that are equally important. A Paralympic career can generate great complexity in the lives of para-athletes, making it challenging to reconcile the routine of training and competitions with their other occupations, especially when it comes to para-athletes competing at the international level. Objective The aim was to identify the athletic profile of the para-athlete and their participation in occupational roles over time. Method This is an observational, descriptive study with Brazilian para-athletes. A questionnaire was used to characterize the sample and identify the athletic profile, as well as the Occupational Role Identification List. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used. Results A total of 80 Brazilian para-athletes participated, from 5 Paralympic sport modalities, undergoing training in two Paralympic reference centers. It was observed that para-athletes experienced a decrease in performance in occupational roles when comparing the past and present, and they intend to return to or acquire new roles in the future. Conclusion Some occupational roles with high levels of importance for para-athletes remain latent, making it extremely important to plan the career transition of these individuals so they can engage in new perspectives or resume meaningful occupations.