Abstract
Kilkens OJ, Dallmeijer AJ, de Witte LP, van der Woude LH, Post MW. The Wheelchair
Circuit: construct validity and responsiveness of a test to assess manual wheelchair
mobility in persons with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:424–31.
Objective
To assess the validity and responsiveness of the Wheelchair Circuit, a test to assess
manual wheelchair mobility in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Design
Longitudinal. Subjects performed the Wheelchair Circuit at the start (T1) and at the
end (T3) of inpatient functional rehabilitation. Construct validity and responsiveness
were assessed.
Setting
Eight rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands.
Participants
Seventy-four subjects with SCI admitted for inpatient rehabilitation.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main outcome measures
The Wheelchair Circuit consists of 8 wheelchair skills and results in 3 test scores:
ability, performance time, and physical strain. The construct validity of the Wheelchair
Circuit was assessed by testing whether the test scores were significantly related
to the subjects’ functional status, physical capacity, lesion level, motor completeness
of the lesion, and age. To prove the test’s responsiveness, it was assessed whether
the test scores had significantly improved between T1 and T3.
Results
For construct validity, 4 of the 5 hypotheses were confirmed. For test responsiveness,
all 3 test scores had significantly improved during rehabilitation, and the standardized
response mean values ranged from 0.6 to 0.9.
Conclusions
The Wheelchair Circuit is a valid and responsive instrument with which to measure
manual wheelchair mobility in subjects with SCI.
Keywords
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Article info
Footnotes
☆Supported by the Health Research and Development Council of the Netherlands (grant no. 1435.0003).
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
