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Published on: February 5, 2020
Manual wheelchair skills capacity versus performance
Peter Inkpen1, Kim Parker, R Lee Kirby
1Department of Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
|February 28, 2012
Summary
Manual wheelchair users report higher skill capacity than performance, with a strong correlation between the two. This indicates potential for improved wheelchair skills training and assessment.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Science
- Assistive Technology
- Clinical Outcomes
Background:
- Manual wheelchair skills are crucial for independence and community participation.
- Assessing both capacity (what a user can do) and performance (what a user does) is important for understanding real-world functioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between self-reported manual wheelchair skills capacity and performance.
- To determine if wheelchair skills capacity significantly exceeds performance in manual wheelchair users.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study was conducted at a rehabilitation center.
- Twenty-six manual wheelchair users completed the questionnaire version of the Wheelchair Skills Test (WST-Q) version 4.1.
- Participants reported their capacity and performance scores for 32 distinct wheelchair skills.
Main Results:
- A high correlation (Spearman rho = .853, P=.000) was found between capacity and performance scores.
- Capacity scores (72.5%±19.2%) significantly exceeded performance scores (58.1%±21.2%), with a mean difference of 14.4%±9.5% (P=.000).
- For 28% of skills, capacity was at least 20% higher than performance; 66% of unperformed skills were due to lack of capacity.
Conclusions:
- Self-reported manual wheelchair skills capacity and performance are highly correlated.
- Wheelchair skills capacity generally surpasses performance, with variations across different skills.
- Findings suggest implications for refining wheelchair skills assessment and training programs.
