The occurrence of a spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to an enormous change in an individual�s lifestyle. Limitation related to mobility can become critical affecting ability to participate in nearly all activities of daily living (ADL). People with SCI rely on assistive technology (AT), especially wheelchair to facilitate the return to as many pre-injury activities as possible and serve as a resource tool for community living and participation12. The purpose of this study was to investigate the wheelchair and related factors that affect the participation of individuals with SCI in activities performed in three settings including home, community and transportation.
Seventy individuals with SCI who use wheelchairs for mobility participated in this study. A written survey, which recorded AT usage in daily activities, was distributed among individuals from Pittsburgh (Pitt) and Saint Louis (SL). The wheelchair was found to be the most limiting factor in activities performed in the home, community and transportation use. The second most limiting factor was physical impairment and environment. Significant differences were shown among individuals from Pitt and SL. A higher number of individuals from SL indicated pain, fatigue, wheelchair seating, social attitudes and self-concept as factors that limit their participation. In addition, significant differences were revealed in transportation use between individuals with paraplegia and tetraplegia. Pain was shown as a limiting factor for people with paraplegia, whereas, lack of equipment was indicated by people with tetraplegia.
AT and related factors impact participation of individuals with SCI. The wheelchair was the most common limiting factor, followed by physical impairment and physical environment. The wheelchair is most likely their most important mobility device while also the one that is most associated with barriers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12012003-101654 |
| Date | 18 December 2003 |
| Creators | Chaves, Eliana S. |
| Contributors | Michael Boninger, Rory Cooper, Mark Schmeler, Rosemarie Cooper |
| 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-12012003-101654/ |
| 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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