The Effect of Manual Wheelchair Design on Mobility: A Study with Non-Users and Experienced Wheelchair Users

Abstract

The use of inappropriate wheelchairs is believed to limit mobility and reduce the freedom and quality of living for the user. This study therefore set out to investigate the influences of wheelchair design on the performance in a wheelchair agility test. Ten participants performed an agility test involving operating three manual wheelchairs with different designs as fast as possible. The wheelchair designs (independent variable) included a lightweight rigid frame, foldable frame and hospital model. The wheelchairs order was randomized for the agility tests. The time to complete an agility test (dependent variable) was measured with a chronometer. The results show that the use of the rigid frame wheelchair yielded the fastest performance during the agility tests, while the hospital model resulted in longer task-completion times. The findings support the view that active users should be provided with lightweight wheelchairs, as heavy hospital wheelchairs limit mobility.