Article

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of power assist wheels on the distance traveled
by manual wheelchair users and analyze potential cofactors in the magnitude of
response and to test the hypothesis that wheelers would travel significantly
further with power assist wheels. DESIGN: A 16-wk A (Preintervention)-B
(Intervention)-A (Postintervention) repeated measures design. Seven women and 13
men (age, 43 +/- 15 yrs) full-time wheelers participated. During the pre- and
postintervention phases (4 wks each), participants used their own unaltered
manual wheelchairs. During the 8-wk intervention phase, the manual wheels were
replaced with power assist wheels. Daily distance was measured with bicycle-style
odometers. A composite score of laboratory wheelchair tasks was used to classify
wheelchair performance. Mixed model repeated measures analysis of variance
analyzed changes across phases of the trial. A post hoc analysis tabulated the
amount of days wheelers exceeded their individual daily averages in each phase by
two SDs. RESULTS: Wheelers traveled significantly greater distances during the
intervention phase compared with pre- or postintervention phases regardless of
baseline wheelchair performance. Wheelers who demonstrated higher baseline
wheelchair performance traveled lesser average distances in the first 2 wks after
receiving power assist wheels than in the subsequent 6 wks. Wheelers exceeded
their individual daily averages per phase on a significantly greater number of
days during the intervention phase. CONCLUSIONS:
Power assist wheels enabled
wheelers to travel farther and to travel beyond their usual distances on more
days. Further studies may be strengthened by taking into account the 2-wk
"adjustment phase" for power assist wheels.

Langue : ANGLAIS