The Wheelchair Circuit: Construct validity and responsiveness of a test to assess manual wheelchair mobility in persons with spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the validity and responsiveness of the Wheelchair Circuit, a test to assess manual wheelchair mobility in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).


METHODS
Longitudinal. Subjects performed the Wheelchair Circuit at the start (T1) and at the end (T3) of inpatient functional rehabilitation. Construct validity and responsiveness were assessed.


METHODS
Eight rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands.


METHODS
Seventy-four subjects with SCI admitted for inpatient rehabilitation.


METHODS
Not applicable.


METHODS
The Wheelchair Circuit consists of 8 wheelchair skills and results in 3 test scores: ability, performance time, and physical strain. The construct validity of the Wheelchair Circuit was assessed by testing whether the test scores were significantly related to the subjects' functional status, physical capacity, lesion level, motor completeness of the lesion, and age. To prove the test's responsiveness, it was assessed whether the test scores had significantly improved between T1 and T3.


RESULTS
For construct validity, 4 of the 5 hypotheses were confirmed. For test responsiveness, all 3 test scores had significantly improved during rehabilitation, and the standardized response mean values ranged from 0.6 to 0.9.


CONCLUSIONS
The Wheelchair Circuit is a valid and responsive instrument with which to measure manual wheelchair mobility in subjects with SCI.
Kilkens
Olga J
OJ
iRv, Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Hoensbroek, the Netherlands. olga.kilkens@irv.nl
Dallmeijer
Annet J
AJ
De Witte
Luc P
LP
Van Der Woude
Lucas H
LH
Post
Marcel W
MW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014910:Wheelchairs