Manual Wheelchair Speed, Maneuverability, and Endurance and Community Access

Study Summary

This is a cross-section correlational study that will examine the relationships between wheelchair speed, maneuverability, and endurance with community integration. By identifying which of these has the biggest contribution to community participation, the information will be used to justify continues therapy, to alter the focus of therapy, and to justify purchase of power or power assist wheelchairs when needed. Currently, therapists make the recommendation for a power or power assist chair based on their clinical judgement and the patient's experience, but there has been limited justification from the literature for these decisions. Finally, because the CHART measure is the gold standard in rehabilitation research for community integration, but has psychometric problems, we will use this opportunity to validate a new more psychometrically solid measure, the PART-O, against the CHART.

Primary Outcome

This nine question survey asks participants where they have gone in the last week, frequency of those visits, and how independently they went there. The locations vary from spaces within their home, immediately around their home, or outside of their neighborhood, city, county, state or nation. Their independent movement patterns will be classified as within the home, limited community mobility and full community mobility.

Interventions

• OTHER Life Space Assessment Scale
• OTHER 6-Minute Push Test
• OTHER Forward Push Test
• OTHER Wheelchair Slalom Test
• OTHER Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique