This study examined how adults use power wheelchair seat features such as seat tilt, backrest recline, and seat elevation, during typical daily activities. A Seat Feature Data Logger (SFDL) was attached to 11 subjects wheelchairs for 10-14 days to gather data regarding daily usage of the wheelchair and these features. Subjects occupied their wheelchairs for 12.0 ± 3.0 hours per day and transferred in/out of their wheelchairs 5.0 ± 5.3 times per day. An average of 0.7 ± 1.5 hours per day was spent in an upright position. The tilt feature was accessed 18.4 ± 14.4 times per day for 8.5 ± 5.2 hours per day, and recline was accessed 11.5 ± 8.4 times per day for 8.6 ± 4.6 hours per day. Tilt and recline were used in combination for a total of 4.8 ± 4.6 hours per day. Subjects accessed the seat elevation feature 4.3 ± 4.1 times per day on average for 2.8 ± 4.6 hours day. Based on these data it was found that subjects spent significantly more time in a tilted versus an upright position (p<0.025), but that tilt was not used significantly more than recline (p=0.155) or seat elevation (p=0.046). In addition, comparison of SFDL data with pressuremapping data revealed that subjects were more likely to use small and intermediate amplitude tilt and recline angles, and positions known to result in low peak pressure were accessed more frequently and for longer durations than intermediate and high pressure positions. While subjects did not always use large angles of tilt and recline as many clinicians recommend these features were used frequently and their use resulted in lower peak pressures.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-11072006-155054 |
| Date | 16 November 2006 |
| Creators | Leister, Elizabeth Powell |
| Contributors | Dan Ding, Rosi Cooper, Shirley Fitzgerald, Rory 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-11072006-155054/ |
| 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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