NCT04998539

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

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

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 32 (actual)
• Sponsor: Nova Scotia Health Authority · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

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.

Conditions

• Wheelchairs

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Wheelchair 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.
OTHER	Wheelchair 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.
OTHER	Upright 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.
OTHER	Wheelie 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.
OTHER	Wheelchair 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.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-08-01
• Primary completion: 2022-03-01
• Completion: 2022-09-01
• First posted: 2021-08-10
• Last updated: 2022-09-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada