Wheelchairs
Conditions
Brief summary
Wheelchair skills training is an important step in the wheelchair provision process. Caregivers play an important role in the lives of wheelchair users but very little is known about wheelchair skills training for caregivers. The goal of the study is to understand the effect of wheelchair travel direction, wheelchair occupant body position and technique used by caregivers on the ease of getting an occupied wheelchair over a soft surface.
Detailed description
Able bodied participants will be used to simulate caregivers and wheelchair occupants. Participants simulating caregivers will be asked to move the occupied wheelchair over a 5 m soft surface. Participants will be randomly assigned a direction to move the wheelchair (forward or backwards), wheelchair occupant body position (upright or leaning forward) and technique in moving the wheelchair (upright with all 4 wheels on ground or in a wheelie position with the wheelchair tipped backwards and balanced on the rear wheels). The ease of getting the occupied wheelchair over the soft surface will be evaluated by the amount of time taken to complete the task, how well the participant completed the task and the ease of performing the task as evaluated by the participant.
Interventions
OTHERWheelie technique
Participants will move the wheelchair across the 5 m soft surface using the wheelie technique. The wheelie technique involves the wheelchair being tipped backward and balanced on the rear wheels. Participant wheelchair occupants will always be upright when being moved using the wheelie technique.
OTHERWheelchair forward direction
Participants will move the wheelchair over 5 meters of a soft surface (gym mats) in the forward direction. Participants will push the wheelchair when moving forward.
OTHERWheelchair backward direction
Participants will move the wheelchair over 5 meters of a soft surface (gym mats) in the backward direction. Participants will pull the wheelchair when moving backwards.
OTHERUpright technique
Participants will move the wheelchair across the 5 m soft surface using the upright technique. The upright technique involves the wheelchair being moved with all 4 wheels on the ground.
OTHERWheelchair occupant upright body position
The participant occupying the wheelchair (wheelchair occupant) will be seated with a body position that is upright (back is leaning against the wheelchair back rest and arms on wheelchair arm rests) while the wheelchair is being moved.
Sponsors
Dalhousie University
Nova Scotia Health Authority
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Masking description
The participants will be blinded to the expected differences among the test conditions and asked not to discuss their experiences with other potential participants.
Intervention model description
This study consists of a randomized crossover trial with within-participant comparisons.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* able to communicate in English, * alert, cooperative, and competent to provide informed consent, * willing to participate (as evidenced by attending the single data-collection session), and * have no physical impairments that would prevent their being able to push and pull a wheelchair over a soft surface
Exclusion criteria
* have unstable medical conditions that might make the handling of a manual wheelchair dangerous, or emotional problems that might make participation unsafe or unpleasant.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Time taken to perform task | through study completion , an average of 1 hour | The amount of time in seconds taken to perform the task and move the occupied wheelchair across 5 meters of soft surface (gym mats). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ability to perform task | through study completion , an average of 1 hour | The ability of the participant to perform the task of moving the occupied wheelchair across the 5 meter soft surface. Participant will be scored using an ordinal scale from 0 to 3 (0 = fail, distance completed \< 2.5 m and /or time taken more than 20 seconds, 1=partial pass with distance completed between 2.5 m and 4.9 m and time less than or equal to 20 seconds, 2 = pass with completion of the 5 m distance and time taken between 11 and 20 seconds, and advanced pass = 3 with completion of the 5 m distance and time taken being less than or equal to 10 seconds). |
| Ease of performing the task | through study completion , an average of 1 hour | Participant self-reported ease of performing the task of moving the occupied wheelchair over a 5 meter soft surface. A five-point Likert scale with 4 = very easy, 3 = somewhat easy, 2 = neither easy nor difficult, 1 = somewhat difficult and 0 = very difficult. |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed