Arm crank versus wheelchair treadmill ergometry to evaluate the performance of paraplegics

The purpose of this investigation was to compare peak performance capabilities of male paraplegics with arm crank and wheelchair ergometry. Eleven male paraplegics (aged 26.0 +/- 4.5 year) with spinal lesions at levels ranging from T5 to L4 were assessed during arm cranking and while propelling a wheelchair on a treadmill. Subjects completed both tests in randomised order within a 1 week period with a minimum of 48 hours between tests. Based on the data analysis, peak VO2 for the treadmill and arm crank were not significantly different while HR values for the treadmill were significantly greater (P less than 0.05) when compared to arm crank. A regression analysis indicated that wheelchair treadmill peak VO2 values can be accurately predicted from arm crank peak VO2 (r = 0.74).