Abstract
Objectives
To describe the wheelchair skills capacity and performance of experienced manual wheelchair
users with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to assess measurement properties of the Wheelchair
Skills Test (WST) and Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire (WST-Q).
Design
Cross-sectional descriptive study involving within-subject comparisons.
Setting
Four Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems centers.
Participants
Manual wheelchair users with SCI (N=117).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
WST and WST-Q version 4.2 as well as measures for Confidence, Basic Mobility, Independence,
Ability to Participate, Satisfaction, and Pain Interference.
Results
The median (interquartile range) values for WST capacity, WST-Q capacity, and WST-Q
performance were 81.0% (69.0%–90.0%), 88.0% (77.0%–97.0%), and 76.0% (66.3%–84.0%).
The total WST capacity scores correlated significantly with the total WST-Q capacity
scores (r=.76; P<.01) and WST-Q performance scores (r=.55; P<.01). The total WST-Q capacity and WST-Q performance scores were correlated significantly
(r=.63; P<.001). Success rates were <75% for 10 of the 32 (31%) individual skills on the WST
and 6 of the 32 (19%) individual skills on the WST-Q. Regression models for the total
WST and WST-Q measures identified statistically significant predictors including age,
sex, body mass index, and/or level of injury. The WST and WST-Q measures correlated
significantly with the Confidence, Basic Mobility, Independence, or Pain Interference
measures.
Conclusions
Many people with SCI are unable to or do not perform some of the wheelchair skills
that would allow them to participate more fully. More wheelchair skills training may
enhance participation and quality of life of adults with SCI. The WST and WST-Q exhibit
good content, construct, and concurrent validity.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
BMI (body mass index), SCI (spinal cord injury), SCIMS (Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems), WST (Wheelchair Skills Test), 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: June 15, 2016
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (grant no. H133A120004). NIDILRR is a center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this publication do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, and HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the U.S. government.
Clinical Trial Registration No.: NCT01807728.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
