Evaluation of Manual Wheelchair Performance in Everyday Life
By van der Woude, Lucas H.V.; de Groot, Sonja; van Drongelen, Stefan; Janssen, Thomas W.J.; Haisma, Janneke A.; Valent, Linda J.; Veeger, Dirkjan H.E.J.; Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 1-15Publication Date: Fall 2009
Article discusses various aspects of evaluation of manual wheelchair performance in the monitoring of individual progress during rehabilitation and in aftercare of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Evaluation is outlined in the following areas: (1) cardiovascular strain of daily wheelchair use, evaluated with heart rate monitors and expressed in percent heart rate reserve; (2) activity monitoring, including physical activity questionnaires, accelerometer monitoring of home- and community-based ambulatory activity as exemplified by the Datalogger wheelchair mounted computer based sensor system, and the use of a global positioning system (GPS); (3) mechanical strain of handrim wheelchair arm work, evaluated with three-dimensional force measurement devices such as the SmartWheel and Propulsiometer; (4) wheeling capacity, measured in aerobic and anaerobic standardized wheelchair exercise tests; (5) wheelchair propulsion technique and mechanical efficiency, as measured with the SmartWheel; (6) wheelchair skill, which can be assessed with tests such as the wheelchair circuit, a research tool developed in the Netherlands consisting of 8 skills and using the outcome measures of ability, performance time, and heart rate; and (7) physical work capacity, measured with arm crank ergometry showing outcome measures of average peak power output and oxygen uptake during a handrim wheelchair exercise test on a motor-driven treadmill.
Assistive Products Discussed: Published by: Thomas Land Publishers, Inc. (Website:http://www.thomasland.com)
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J57594
