Karmarkar Amol M, Collins Diane M, Kelleher Annmarie, Ding Dan, Oyster Michelle, Cooper Rory A
Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2010;5(6):428-37. doi: 10.3109/17483107.2010.481346.
Manual wheelchairs are commonly prescribed for older adults in nursing homes (NH). The extent of their utilisation being unknown may result in the prescription of standard wheelchairs. The purpose of this study was to quantify manual wheelchair use by nursing home residents.
Seventy-two independent wheelchair users were recruited from four NH (two VA-affiliated and two private). A customised wheelchair data logger was attached to each participant's wheelchair for 1 month. Data were reduced and compared separately for VA- affiliated and private facilities by types of propulsion pattern (arms versus legs and the combination of arms and legs) using MANOVA.
Participants from the VA-affiliated facilities who used their arms were covering more distance (1451 m versus 806 m), with greater endurance (73 m versus 60 m) as compared to participants who used combination of arms and legs. However, no difference was observed between velocity of wheelchair propulsion between groups (0.48 m/s versus 0.58 m/s). For private facilities no notable difference was observed between the groups.
Older adults who live in NH and use of wheelchairs represent a diverse cohort. The efficacy of using an objective assessment method to measure the extent of use of wheelchairs was demonstrated in this study.
疗养院（NH）中通常会为老年人配备手动轮椅。由于其使用程度未知，可能会导致开具标准轮椅的处方。本研究的目的是量化疗养院居民使用手动轮椅的情况。
从四家疗养院（两家退伍军人事务部附属和两家私立）招募了72名独立轮椅使用者。在每位参与者的轮椅上安装一个定制的轮椅数据记录器，为期1个月。使用多变量方差分析（MANOVA），按推进方式类型（手臂驱动与腿部驱动以及手臂和腿部联合驱动）分别对退伍军人事务部附属设施和私立设施的数据进行简化和比较。
与使用手臂和腿部联合驱动的参与者相比，退伍军人事务部附属设施中使用手臂驱动的参与者行驶的距离更远（1451米对806米），耐力更强（73米对60米）。然而，两组之间轮椅推进速度没有差异（0.48米/秒对0.58米/秒）。对于私立设施，两组之间未观察到显著差异。
居住在疗养院且使用轮椅的老年人构成了一个多样化的群体。本研究证明了使用客观评估方法来衡量轮椅使用程度的有效性。
