title: The Wheelchair Circuit: Construct validity and responsiveness of a test to assess manual wheelchair mobility in persons with spinal cord injury.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: iRv, Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Hoensbroek, the Netherlands. olga.kilkens@irv.nl
authors.forename: Olga J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Kilkens
authors.forename: Annet J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dallmeijer
authors.forename: Luc P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: De Witte
authors.forename: Lucas H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Van Der Woude
authors.forename: Marcel W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Post
mesh_terms: 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