Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring
Manual wheelchair users (MWUs) frequently report shoulder problems and have a three-times-higher likelihood of rotator cuff pathology compared to able-bodied individuals. Shoulder health is crucial for MWU independence, their social participation, and quality of life. Daily activities such as wheelc...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| author | Wiebe de Vries Inge Eriks-Hoogland Anneke Hertig-Godeschalk Sabrina Koch-Borner Claudio Perret Ursina Arnet |
| author_facet | Wiebe de Vries Inge Eriks-Hoogland Anneke Hertig-Godeschalk Sabrina Koch-Borner Claudio Perret Ursina Arnet |
| author_sort | Wiebe de Vries |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Manual wheelchair users (MWUs) frequently report shoulder problems and have a three-times-higher likelihood of rotator cuff pathology compared to able-bodied individuals. Shoulder health is crucial for MWU independence, their social participation, and quality of life. Daily activities such as wheelchair propulsion potentially lead to fatigue and overload. Since comprehensive data are limited, this study aimed to implement a wheelchair mobility metrics (WCMM) method to examine various aspects of wheelchair use in daily life. Two inertial measurement units (IMUs) were placed on the wheelchair frame and wheel of 19 participants with a spinal cord injury (SCI). WCMMs like distance covered, number of pushes and turns, and incline were derived from real-life measurements and normalized to a period of 8 h. Large variation was observed among participants. The distance covered ranged from 0.5 to 10.7 km, with the number of pushes from 438 to 4820. The number of turns ranged from 269 to 1396, and the average distance per mobility bout from 5 to 59 m. This wide variation over participants emphasizes the importance of data-driven clinical decision making and patient education. Further studies with larger samples and duration are needed to fully understand MWUs’ mobility patterns and their implications for shoulder health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d71ba749446c4aacbf2364b03f55f60b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-d71ba749446c4aacbf2364b03f55f60b2025-08-20T02:50:13ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172024-11-0114231108710.3390/app142311087Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual MonitoringWiebe de Vries0Inge Eriks-Hoogland1Anneke Hertig-Godeschalk2Sabrina Koch-Borner3Claudio Perret4Ursina Arnet5Swiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zächstrasse 4, 6207 Nottwil, SwitzerlandSwiss Paraplegic Centre, Guido A. Zächstrasse 2, 6207 Nottwil, SwitzerlandSwiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zächstrasse 4, 6207 Nottwil, SwitzerlandSwiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zächstrasse 4, 6207 Nottwil, SwitzerlandSwiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zächstrasse 4, 6207 Nottwil, SwitzerlandSwiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zächstrasse 4, 6207 Nottwil, SwitzerlandManual wheelchair users (MWUs) frequently report shoulder problems and have a three-times-higher likelihood of rotator cuff pathology compared to able-bodied individuals. Shoulder health is crucial for MWU independence, their social participation, and quality of life. Daily activities such as wheelchair propulsion potentially lead to fatigue and overload. Since comprehensive data are limited, this study aimed to implement a wheelchair mobility metrics (WCMM) method to examine various aspects of wheelchair use in daily life. Two inertial measurement units (IMUs) were placed on the wheelchair frame and wheel of 19 participants with a spinal cord injury (SCI). WCMMs like distance covered, number of pushes and turns, and incline were derived from real-life measurements and normalized to a period of 8 h. Large variation was observed among participants. The distance covered ranged from 0.5 to 10.7 km, with the number of pushes from 438 to 4820. The number of turns ranged from 269 to 1396, and the average distance per mobility bout from 5 to 59 m. This wide variation over participants emphasizes the importance of data-driven clinical decision making and patient education. Further studies with larger samples and duration are needed to fully understand MWUs’ mobility patterns and their implications for shoulder health.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/23/11087wheelchair mobility metricsIMUreal-life measurementsspinal cord injurymanual wheelchair users |
| spellingShingle | Wiebe de Vries Inge Eriks-Hoogland Anneke Hertig-Godeschalk Sabrina Koch-Borner Claudio Perret Ursina Arnet Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring Applied Sciences wheelchair mobility metrics IMU real-life measurements spinal cord injury manual wheelchair users |
| title | Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring |
| title_full | Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring |
| title_fullStr | Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring |
| title_short | Variation in Daily Wheelchair Mobility Metrics of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: The Need for Individual Monitoring |
| title_sort | variation in daily wheelchair mobility metrics of persons with spinal cord injury the need for individual monitoring |
| topic | wheelchair mobility metrics IMU real-life measurements spinal cord injury manual wheelchair users |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/23/11087 |
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