Development of a realistic method to assess wheelchair propulsion by disabled people

Most wheelchair users cannot achieve the steady state of cardio-respiratory performance necessary for standard physiological testing of wheelchair propulsion on ergometers or treadmills. Furthermore "real life" wheelchair utilisation involves short bursts of energy expenditure around furniture and other obstacles. We have developed a method of measuring wheelchair mobility on a test circuit of varying tortuosity and report here our preliminary experience. The parameters of mobility measured included distance; time taken; resting, maximum and final pulses (using a portable monitor); time to recover to stable resting pulse; and perceived exertion using the Borg Scale. Average speed and physiological cost of wheelchair propulsion (PCWP) (the difference between maximum and resting pulse divided by average speed) were calculated. The reproducibility of the components of the method was demonstrated in studies on normal volunteers. The test was also shown to be suitable for use by a sample of disabled people and was used in comparative studies of conventional and a novel arm crank wheelchair in normal volunteers. The method described appears to be an accurate and objective method of assessing wheelchair propulsion suitable for use by disabled people. It can also form the basis of comparative studies of different methods of propulsion of wheelchairs.