Do Performance-Based Wheelchair Propulsion Tests Detect Changes Among Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury During Inpatient Rehabilitation in Quebec?

Objective: To quantify and compare the responsiveness and concurrent validity of 3 performance-based manual wheelchair propulsion tests among manual wheelchair users with subacute spinal cord injury (SCI) undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. Design: Quasi-experimental repeated-measures design. Setting: Publicly funded comprehensive inpatient SCI rehabilitation program. Participants: Consenting adult manual wheelchair users with a subacute SCI admitted and discharged from inpatient rehabilitation (N=14). Intervention: Participants performed 20-m propulsion at both self-selected natural and maximal speeds, the slalom, and the 6-minute propulsion tests at rehabilitation admission and discharge. Main Outcome Measures: Time required to complete the performance-based wheelchair propulsion tests. Standardized response means (SRMs) were computed for each performance test and Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were calculated to explore the associations between performance tests. Results: The slalom (SRM=1.24), 20-m propulsion at maximum speed (SRM=.99), and 6-minute propulsion tests (SRM=.84) were the most responsive. The slalom and 20-m propulsion at maximum speed were strongly correlated at both admission (r=.93) and discharge (r=.92). Conclusions: The slalom and 6-minute propulsion tests best document wheelchair propulsion performance change over the course of inpatient rehabilitation. Adding the 20-m propulsion test performed at maximal speed provides a complementary description of performance change. (C) 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine