Indoor Wheelchair Skill Tests in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury by Using Different Powered Wheelchair Control Interfaces

• Main Authors: How Hing Ng, 伍巧馨
• Other Authors: Y. H. Lin
• Format: Others
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/83120099811556058234

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 物理治療學系 === 98 === Background and purpose: Mobility is a prerequisite for carrying out important activities and participating in societal life. Physically impaired individuals may use wheelchairs to improve their mobility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the muscle activities of the upper limbs when using a powered wheelchair; we therefore conducted indoor powered wheelchair skill tests with both a bimanual gliding control interface and a conventional joystick control interface. Methods: Twenty-two subjects were recruited (13 men, 9 women; aged 21–45 years) as two groups: 11 able-bodied subjects without musculoskeletal and neurological disorders and 11 patients with spinal cord injury. In the indoor wheelchair skill tests, the muscle activities of the biceps brachii, triceps brachii, flexor carpi radialis, and extensor carpi radialis of the right upper arm and forearm were recorded by surface electromyography and normalized by the amount of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) when a powered wheelchair was driven with a bimanual gliding control interface and a joystick control interface. In addition to muscle activities, practice time, completion time, speed, and root-mean-square-error were recorded. After a 30-minute practice session, each control interface was tested 3 times. Subjects drove the wheelchair along the line on the floor in the shortest possible time. A repeated-measures ANOVA was used to examine the interaction between interface types and groups. Results: When a subject drove the powered wheelchair in the indoor tests, the muscle activities of the upper limbs ranged from 2% to 14% of MVC. The biceps and triceps muscles demonstrated the most significant muscle activities of all the muscles when the subject drove using the bimanual gliding control interface, and the flexor carpi radialis was the most activated when the joystick control interface (P < 0.05). The muscle activities in the able-bodied group were similar to those of the patients with spinal cord injury. The spinal cord injury group drove faster in the tests than the able-bodied group, with similar accuracy. Most of the subjects preferred the bimanual gliding control interface. Conclusions: Types of driving control interfaces for powered wheelchairs may affect the muscle activities of the upper limbs. The wheelchair users showed their preference to the bimanual gliding control interface.