Training of the manual wheelchair skill: an integrating literature review

Wheelchairs skills training is fundamental in the rehabilitation of disabled people and is considered an essential step in wheelchair prescription/dispensing services. The objective of this study was: (1) to map the interventions for manual wheelchairs skills training available in the literature of the last 10 years (2008-2018); and (2) identify the best levels of scientific evidence on this practice. This was an integrative review of the literature in the Virtual Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and in the Biblioteca Virtual em Satide (BVS), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe de Ciencias da Saude (LILACS), and PubMed I MEDLINE, with articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese between 2006 and 2018. We found seven randomized controlled trials, all available in the English language and most of Canadian affiliation. The protocol of the Wheelchair Skills Training Program - WSTP presented the largest number of studies (n=4) with proven efficacy and confidence in wheelchair skills and attainment of training goals. This protocol has also proved to be effective in individual and group approaches, in contexts of specialized rehabilitation and community services, with a diversified public and a variable training time between two and 24 hours. It is concluded that WSTP has been shown to be a strategy with high levels of evidence on wheelchair skills training, and further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this practice in aspects not yet investigated.