Kinetic factors determining wheelchair propulsion in marathon racers with paraplegia

To assess the different factors that determine the propulsion of wheelchair in long distance racers with spinal cord injuries.

Nine highly handicapped men who competed at the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon in 1995, participated in this study. Subjects performed steady and exhaustive wheelchair propulsion at their optimal speed on wheelchair rollers in a laboratory setting during a 5-min period. Movements of the trunk and arms were filmed by a video camera then analyzed kinetically using a two-dimensional analysis system. In order to determine the actual pushing time and angle of wheelchair, we measured the duration between hand contact and hand release from handrim.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.

The push time, cycle time, total push time, and angular velocity did not relate with the race time or wheelchair velocity. However, the total push angle correlated significantly (P<0.01) with the race time and wheelchair velocity. Improvement of the pushing angular velocity and pushing duration did not contribute to the race time.

The skilful wheelchair propulsion in long distance racing depends on the total push angle. Improvement of the total push angle should be achieved by both prolongation of the total push time and increased pushing angular velocity.