Abstract
Chen W-Y, Jang Y, Wang J-D, Huang W-N, Chang C-C, Mao H-F, Wang Y-H. Wheelchair-related
accidents: relationship with wheelchair-using behavior in active community wheelchair
users.
Objective
To report the prevalence, mechanisms, self-perceived causes, consequences, and wheelchair-using
behaviors associated with wheelchair-related accidents.
Design
A case-control study.
Setting
Community.
Participants
A sample of experienced, community-dwelling, active manual and powered wheelchair
users (N=95) recruited from a hospital assistive technology service center.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Wheelchair-using behaviors, wheelchair-related accidents over a 3-year period, and
the mechanisms and consequences of the accidents.
Results
Among the 95 participants, 52 (54.7%) reported at least 1 accident and 16 (16.8%)
reported 2 or more accidents during the 3 years prior to the interview. A total of
74 accidents, were categorized into tips and falls (87.8%), accidental contact (6.8%),
and dangerous operations (5.4%). A logistic regression found individuals who failed
to maintain their wheelchairs regularly (odds ratio [OR]=11.28; 95% confidence interval
[CI], 2.62–48.61) and used a wheelchair not prescribed by professionals (OR=4.31;
95% CI, 1.10–16.82) had significantly greater risks of accidents. In addition to the
risk factor, lack of regular wheelchair maintenance, the Poisson regression corroborated
the other risk factor, seat belts not used (incident rate ratio=2.14; 95% CI, 1.08–4.14),
for wheelchair-related accidents.
Conclusions
Wheelchair-related accidents are closely related to their wheelchair-using behaviors.
Services including professional evaluation, repair, maintenance, and an educational
program on proper wheelchair use may decrease the risks of wheelchair accidents.
Key Words
Abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), IRR (incident rate ratio), OR (odds ratio)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Footnotes
Supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan (grant no. NSC 98-2314-B-002-030).
Clinical Trial Registration Number: 200901040R approved by National Taiwan University Hospital Research Ethics Committee.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Reprints are not available from the author.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
