Wheelchair users at a children's rehabilitation center: attributes and management

A survey was made of the clinical characteristics of wheelchair-users at the Children's Rehabilitation Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 261 patients were studied, of whom 214 had cerebral palsy, 34 had myelomeningocele and 13 had Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Among the patients with cerebral palsy it was found that the attributes likely to define a wheelchair-user were spastic quadriplegia, functional level III and IV, seizures and severe sensory handicap; among patients with myelomeningocele, wheelchair use ws related to level of lesion; and in the muscular dystrophy group it ws related to age. These results have been of help to rehabilitation centres and related service agencies in formulating long-term plans to meet the needs of wheelchair-users.