Article

Powered wheelchairs are essential for many individuals who have
mobility impairments. Nevertheless, if operated improperly, the powered
wheelchair poses dangers to both the user and to those in its vicinity. Thus,
operating a powered wheelchair with some degree of proficiency is important for
safety, and measuring driving skills becomes an important issue to address. The
objective of this study was to explore the discriminate validity of outcome
measures of driving skills based on joystick control strategies and performance
recorded using a data logging system. METHODS: We compared joystick control
strategies and performance during standardized driving tasks between a group of
10 expert and 13 novice powered wheelchair users. Driving tasks were drawn from
the Wheelchair Skills Test (v. 4.1). Data from the joystick controller were
collected on a data logging system. Joystick control strategies and performance
outcome measures included the mean number of joystick movements, time required to
complete tasks, as well as variability of joystick direction. RESULTS: In simpler
tasks, the expert group's driving skills were comparable to those of the novice
group. Yet, in more difficult and spatially confined tasks, the expert group
required fewer joystick movements for task completion. In some cases, experts
also completed tasks in approximately half the time with respect to the novice
group. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of joystick control made it possible to
discriminate between novice and expert powered wheelchair users in a variety of
driving tasks. These results imply that in spatially confined areas, a greater
powered wheelchair driving skill level is required to complete tasks efficiently.
Based on these findings, it would appear that the use of joystick signal analysis
constitutes an objective tool for the measurement of powered wheelchair driving
skills. This tool may be useful for the clinical assessment and training of
powered wheelchair skills.

Langue : ANGLAIS