Ground surface impacts wheelchair propulsion

Main Category: Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 21 Nov 2005 - 11:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Data from a manual wheelchair propulsion study indicate that different ground surfaces impact wheelchair propulsion ability, revealing conditions contributing to arm overuse in people who use wheelchairs.

Eleven manual wheelchair users were fitted with a SMARTWheel and pushed on a course consisting of high- and low- pile carpet, indoor tile, interlocking concrete pavers, smooth level concrete, grass, hardwood flooring, and a sidewalk with a five-degree grade.

Propulsive forces on grass, interlocking pavers, and ramp ascent were typically higher compared with tile, wood, smooth level concrete, and low- and high-pile carpeting.

Users adapted to more challenging surfaces by applying more force and increasing the number of times they struck the pushrim.

Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development - pg 447

About the Journal

JRRD has been a leading research journal in the field of rehabilitation medicine and technology for more than 40 years. JRRD, a peer-reviewed, scientifically indexed journal, publishes original research papers, review articles, as well as clinical and technical commentary from U.S. and international researchers on all rehabilitation research disciplines. JRRD's mission is to responsibly evaluate and disseminate scientific research findings impacting the rehabilitative healthcare community. For more information about JRRD, visit http://www.vard.org.

Judith LaVoie
judith@vard.org
VA Research Communications Service
http://www.vard.org

• Additional
• References
• Citations