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Published on: February 5, 2020
Comparing performance of manual wheelchair skills using new and conventional rear anti-tip devices: randomized
R Lee Kirby1, Casey G Corkum, Cher Smith
1Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. kirby@dal.ca
Objective:
To test the hypotheses that, compared with participants using manual wheelchairs equipped with conventional rear anti-tip devices (C-RADs), those using a new RAD design that deploys through an arc (Arc-RAD) perform RAD-relevant wheelchair skills better and as safely.
Design:
A randomized controlled study.
Setting:
A rehabilitation center.
Participants:
Participants (N=30) including 16 able-bodied and 14 wheelchair users.
Intervention:
Participants were provided with wheelchair skills training (up to 2.4h).
Main Outcome Measures:
Total percentage score on a set of 23 RAD-relevant skills of the Wheelchair Skills Test (WST, version 3.2) administered a minimum of 3 days after training.
Results:
For the C-RAD and Arc-RAD groups, the mean +/- standard deviation RAD-relevant WST scores were 32.3%+/-8.5% and 85.1%+/-18.9% (Kruskal-Wallis, P<.001). Of the 23 RAD-relevant individual skills, the success rates for the Arc-RAD group were at least 20% higher (the criterion we set for clinical significance) in 17 (74%). For the C-RAD group, the success rate was 0% for the 12 wheelie-dependent skills, the 13-cm-high obstacle, and the 15-cm level change ascent. There were no serious adverse effects in either group.
Conclusions:
The new RAD design allows much better performance on relevant wheelchair skills than the conventional design without compromising safety.
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