Article

OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability of the Test of Wheeled Mobility (TOWM) and
the Wheelie test.
DESIGN: Cohort study.
SETTING: Gymnasium.
PARTICIPANTS: Manual
wheelchair users (N=30, age 23-53y) with a spinal cord injury. INTERVENTION:
Participants performed the 30 skills of the TOWM and the 8 skills of the Wheelie
test twice. Ability, time, and anxiety scores were assessed on field. Quality
scores were assessed by video analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Test-retest
reliability was evaluated for the ability, time, anxiety, and quality scores of
both tests. Intrarater and interrater reliability were determined on the basis of
quality scores of 20 participants. Intraclass coefficient and nonparametric
statistics were applied, as well as standard error of measurement, method error
(ME), coefficient variation of ME, minimal detectable change (95% confidence),
and technical error of measurement. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability: no
significant differences between t1 and t2 in the ability, quality, and time
scores, except for anxiety scores. Standard error of measurement, ME, coefficient
variation of ME, and minimal detectable change (95% confidence) values were low
for the ability and quality total score and higher for the time and anxiety total
score. Intrarater and interrater reliability interclass correlation coefficients
of both tests ranged between .91 and .99. Interrater relative technical error of
measurement for the TOWM and the Wheelie test total quality score was 3.7% and
6.3%, respectively, and intrarater relative technical error of measurement was
4.3% and 6.1%, respectively. Interclass correlation coefficients per individual
tasks ranged between .88 and 1.00, except for "level propulsion forward," which
showed low interclass correlation coefficient scores (interrater: .49;
intrarater: .44; test-retest: .43). CONCLUSIONS: Based on ability and quality
total scores, the TOWM and the Wheelie test are reliable when assessing the
wheeled mobility of manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury. The quality
criteria of 1 task from the TOWM and 3 tasks from the Wheelie test need to be refined.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS