A New Method to Quantify Demand on the Upper Extremity During Manual Wheelchair Propulsion
By Sabick, Michelle, PhD; Kotajarvi, Brian R., PT; An, Kai-Nan, PhD; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 85, No. 7, pp. 1151-1159Publication Date: July 2004
Study conducted to evaluate a measure called the Wheelchair Propulsion Strength Rating (WPSR), which is an ergonomics-based rating that characterizes both demand on, and capacity of, upper extremity muscle groups that are the most at risk for pain and/or overuse injury during a relatively demanding wheelchair propulsion task. Sixteen people with complete T6-L2 paraplegia who used manual wheelchairs participated in the study. Each participant used a Quickie 2 wheelchair from Sunrise Medical to propel up a moderately inclined ramp five times. The WPSR was calculated for each muscle group by normalizing the joint demands to their capacity. Results indicated that even a relatively easy slope places a large demand on upper extremity muscles. The authors contend that the validity and applicability of the WPSR is based on sound ergonomic research, yet the validity and applicability of the measure for predicting the likelihood of overuse injury in wheelchair propulsion remains to be determined.
Assistive Products Discussed: QUICKIE 2
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
