Abstract
Objective
To assess the effectiveness of group wheelchair skills training to elicit improvements
in wheelchair skills.
Design
Randomized double-blinded controlled trial.
Setting
Four Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Centers.
Participants
Manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (N=114).
Intervention
Six 90-minute group Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP) classes or two 1-hour
active control sessions with 6 to 10 people per group.
Main Outcome Measures
Baseline (t1) and 1-month follow-up (t2) Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire (WST-Q)
(Version 4.2) for capacity and performance and Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) score.
Results
Follow-up was completed by 79 participants (WSTP: n=36, active control: n=43). No
differences were found between missing and complete cases. Many users were highly
skilled at baseline with a WST-Q capacity interquartile range of 77% to 97%. There
were no differences between groups at baseline in WST-Q measures or demographics.
Compared with the active control group, the WSTP group improved in WST-Q capacity
advanced score (P=.02) but not in WST-Q capacity or WST-Q performance total scores (P=.068 and P=.873, respectively). The average GAS score (0% at t1) for the WSTP group at t2 was
65.6%±34.8%. Higher GAS scores and WST-Q capacity scores were found for those who
attended more classes and had lower baseline skills.
Conclusions
Group training can improve advanced wheelchair skills capacity and facilitate achievement
of individually set goals. Lower skill levels at baseline and increased attendance
were correlated with greater improvement.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
GAS (Goal Attainment Scale), SCI (spinal cord injury), WSP (Wheelchair Skills Program), WSTP (Wheelchair Skills Training Program), WST-Q (Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 03, 2016
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (grant no. 90DP0025).
The NIDILRR is a center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this article do not necessarily represent the policy of the NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Clinical Trials Registration No.: NCT01807728.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
