Article

Objectives: To test the differences between a pushrim-activated power-assisted wheelchair (PAPAW) and a traditional manual wheelchair while performing common driving activities and to assess their relative merits for people with tetraplegia. Design: Repeated measures. Setting: An activities of daily living (ADL) laboratory within a rehabilitation research center. Participants: Fifteen full-time manual wheelchair users with tetraplegia due to a spinal cord injury. Interventions: Participants propelled both their own manual wheelchairs and a PAPAW 3 times over an ADL course. The order in which the 2 different wheelchairs were presented to the participants was randomized. Main Outcome Measures:
Each participant's heart rate was monitored throughout testing by a digital, wireless heart-rate monitor. Time to complete the course was recorded, and participants were surveyed with a visual analog scale after the first, third, fourth, and sixth trials to determine the ease of completing each obstacle and their ergonomic preferences between the 2 wheelchairs. Participants also were observed throughout the trials to determine how much assistance they needed to complete each obstacle course. Results: After using a Bonferroni adjustment, 4 obstacles (carpet, dimple strips, up a ramp, up a curb cut) were rated as being significantly easier (P < .001) to complete when using the PAPAW. Participants also showed a significant decrease in mean heart rate throughout all 3 trials (P = .015, P = .001, P = .003, respectively) when using a PAPAW. The amount of assistance needed by participants, the responses to ergonomic questions, and the overall time to complete the ADL course did not differ significantly between the 2 wheelchairs. Conclusions: For subjects with tetraplegia, PAPAWs have the potential to improve functional capabilities during certain ADLs, especially when propelling up ramps, over uneven surfaces, and over thick carpet. (C) 2005 by American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Test - main - course - obstacles

Langue : ANGLAIS