Article

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between mobility performance measures
and Wheelchair Skill Test (WST) scores and to establish the test-retest and
inter-rater reliability of these measures. METHODS:
Forty patients with spinal
cord injury participated in this study. Subjects performed the Wheelchair Skill
Test and mobility performance tests: maximal velocity (Vmax), spontaneous
velocity (Vspont) and a 10-m back and forth slalom (Stime). Eighteen patients
with spinal cord injury participated in a second testing session to evaluate
test-retest reliability and, among these patients, 8 participated in a third
testing session to evaluate inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: Spearman's
correlation coefficients calculated between WST and Vmax, Vspont and Stime were
high and significant (p < 0.05). The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC
(2.1)) evaluating test-retest reliability for Vmax, Vspont and Stime were 0.94,
0.84 and 0.88, respectively. The ICC evaluating inter-rater reliability for Vmax,
Vspont and Stime were 0.92, 0.92 and 0.95, respectively. Reliability results were
confirmed by Bland-Altman plots. CONCLUSION: Vmax and Stime could be used to
evaluate wheelchair skills and to create a new scale, whereas Vspont is the least
appropriate of these measurements to describe wheelchair skills.

Langue : ANGLAIS