title: Energy Cost of Lower Body Dressing, Pop-Over Transfers, and Manual Wheelchair Propulsion in People with Paraplegia Due to Motor-Complete Spinal Cord Injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Energy required for able-bodied individuals to perform common activities is well documented, whereas energy associated with daily activities among people with spinal cord injury (SCI) is less understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine energy expended during several basic physical tasks specific to individuals with paraplegia due to motor-complete SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen adults with motor-complete SCI below T2 level and duration of paraplegia greater than 3 months were included. Oxygen consumption (VO2), caloric expenditure, and heart rate were measured at rest and while participants performed lower body dressing (LBD), pop-over transfers (POTs), and manual wheelchair propulsion (MWP) at a self-selected pace. These data were used to calculate energy expenditure in standard metabolic equivalents (METs), as defined by 1 MET = 3.5 mL O2/kg/min, and in SCI METs using the conversion 1 SCI MET = 2.7 mL O2/kg/min.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VO2 at rest was 3.0 ± 0.9 mL O2/kg/min, which equated to 0.9 ± 0.3 standard METs and 1.1 ± 0.4 SCI METs in energy expenditure. LBD required 3.2 ± 0.7 METs and 4.1 ± 0.9 SCI METs; POTs required 3.4 ± 1.0 METs and 4.5 ± 1.3 SCI METs; and MWP required 2.4 ± 0.6 METs and 3.1 ± 0.7 SCI METs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Resting VO2 for adults with motor-complete paraplegia is 3.0 mL O2/kg/min, which is lower than standard resting VO2 in able-bodied individuals. Progressively more energy is required to perform MWP, LBD, and POTs, respectively. Use of the standard METs formula may underestimate the level of intensity an individual with SCI uses to perform physical activities.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Meaghan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liem
authors.affiliation: Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida.
authors.forename: Geneva
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Howard A. Rusk Rehabilitation Center, Columbia, Missouri.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Thomas George
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Hornby
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rydberg
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Elliot J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Roth
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055686:Metabolic Equivalent / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000503:physiopathology; D010360:Patient Transfer; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014910:Wheelchairs; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: activities of daily living; metabolic equivalent; oxygen consumption; paraplegia; spinal cord injury