Effect of Travel Direction, Body Position and Technique on the Ease of Getting an Occupied Wheelchair Over a Soft Surface

NCT04998539 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: WSP-2021PP1027105
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 32
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

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.

Conditions

Wheelchairs

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Time taken to perform task

  The amount of time in seconds taken to perform the task and move the occupied wheelchair across 5 meters of soft surface (gym mats).

  through study completion , an average of 1 hour

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Ability to perform task

  through study completion , an average of 1 hour

• Ease of performing the task

  through study completion , an average of 1 hour

Study Arms (4)

Upright wheelchair forward and occupant upright

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will push an upright wheelchair forward over a 5 m soft surface with the wheelchair occupant in the upright body position. The participant will perform the task once.

Other: Wheelchair forward direction; Other: Upright technique; Other: Wheelchair occupant upright body position

Upright wheelchair backward and occupant upright

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will pull an upright wheelchair backwards over a 5 m soft surface with the wheelchair occupant in the upright body position. The participant will perform the task once.

Other: Wheelchair backward direction; Other: Upright technique; Other: Wheelchair occupant upright body position

Wheelie wheelchair forward and occupant upright

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will push a wheelchair using the wheelie technique forward over a 5 m soft surface with the wheelchair occupant in the upright body position.The participant will perform the task once.

Other: Wheelchair forward direction; Other: Wheelie technique; Other: Wheelchair occupant upright body position

Wheelie wheelchair backward and occupant upright

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will pull a wheelchair using the wheelie technique backwards over a 5 m soft surface with the wheelchair occupant in the upright body position.The participant will perform the task once.

Other: Wheelchair backward direction; Other: Wheelie technique; Other: Wheelchair occupant upright body position

Interventions

Wheelchair forward direction OTHER

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.

Upright wheelchair forward and occupant upright; Wheelie wheelchair forward and occupant upright

Wheelchair backward direction OTHER

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.

Upright wheelchair backward and occupant upright; Wheelie wheelchair backward and occupant upright

Upright technique OTHER

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.

Upright wheelchair backward and occupant upright; Upright wheelchair forward and occupant upright

Wheelie technique OTHER

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.

Wheelie wheelchair backward and occupant upright; Wheelie wheelchair forward and occupant upright

Wheelchair occupant upright body position OTHER

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.

Upright wheelchair backward and occupant upright; Upright wheelchair forward and occupant upright; Wheelie wheelchair backward and occupant upright; Wheelie wheelchair forward and occupant upright

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• 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

You may not qualify if:

• have unstable medical conditions that might make the handling of a manual wheelchair dangerous, or emotional problems that might make participation unsafe or unpleasant.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Nova Scotia Health Authority: lead
• Dalhousie University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Nova Scotia Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre

Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4K4, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Kirby RL, Parker K, Poon E, Smith C, Osmond D, Ladouceur M, Haworth VS, Theriault CJ, Sandila N. Effect of travel direction and wheelchair position on the ease of a caregiver getting an occupied wheelchair across a soft surface: a randomized crossover trial. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2024 May;19(4):1298-1306. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2170476. Epub 2023 Jan 25.

  PMID: 36695416 DERIVED

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: The participants will be blinded to the expected differences among the test conditions and asked not to discuss their experiences with other potential participants.
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: This study consists of a randomized crossover trial with within-participant comparisons.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2021
• First Posted: August 10, 2021
• Study Start: August 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2022
• Study Completion: September 1, 2022
• Last Updated: September 22, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-09

Locations

CA (1)