Wheelchair seating discomfort is an important but poorly understood negative outcome for long duration wheelchair users. A major impediment to the study of this problem is the lack of a validated tool for quantification of wheelchair seating discomfort. The goal of this dissertation research was to develop and validate an assessment tool appropriate for the quantification of wheelchair seating discomfort among long duration (more than 8 hours per day) wheelchair users. This was accomplished through the completion of three research phases, each described within the body of this dissertation. Phase I consisted of a qualitative research study involving in-depth interviews with experienced wheelchair users. Data from these interviews resulted in the development of the Wheelchair Seating Discomfort Assessment Tool (WcS-DAT), a three-part tool to allow wheelchair users to quantify their level of seating discomfort. Phase II of the research assessed the reliability and concurrent validity of this assessment tool through a test/re-test reliability study. Intra class correlation (ICC) coefficient scores ranged from 0.83 to 0.97, indicating adequate reliability of the two discomfort scores in the WcS-DAT. Internal item consistency, assessed using Cronbachs alpha, indicated that all items were consistent and not redundant, with scores ranging from 0.82 to 0.92. Pearson product-moment correlations were used to assess the concurrent validity of the WcS-DAT and all of these correlations were significant at a minimum of p less than 0.05, with many significant results at the 0.01 and 0.001 levels. These results indicated good concurrent validity of the WcS-DAT. In Phase III, the WcS-DAT was evaluated for its ability to show changes in discomfort over time and with the introduction of novel, user adjustable wheelchair seating. Both the General Discomfort Assessment score (GDA) and the Discomfort Intensity Score (DIS) were sensitive to changes in seating discomfort level and were adequate for use in detecting differences associated with changes in duration of sitting as well as those associated with use of different seating equipment. Results of this final phase indicated that the WcS-DAT is a useful tool for evaluation of wheelchair seating discomfort in a research or clinical environment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-01182004-145004 |
| Date | 20 January 2004 |
| Creators | Crane, Barbara Anne |
| Contributors | Rory A. Cooper, Matthew P. Reed, Steven Stadelmeier, Douglas A. Hobson, Margo B. Holm |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-01182004-145004/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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