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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04998539

Effect of Travel Direction, Body Position and Technique on the Ease of Getting an Occupied Wheelchair Over a Soft Surface

Wheelchair skills training is an important step in the wheelchair provision process. Caregivers play an important role in the lives of wheelchair users but very little is known about wheelchair skills training for caregivers. The goal of the study is to understand the effect of wheelchair travel direction, wheelchair occupant body position and technique used by caregivers on the ease of getting an occupied wheelchair over a soft surface.

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Key information

Conditions

Wheelchairs

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Nova Scotia Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre

Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4K4, Canada

About this study

Able bodied participants will be used to simulate caregivers and wheelchair occupants. Participants simulating caregivers will be asked to move the occupied wheelchair over a 5 m soft surface. Participants will be randomly assigned a direction to move the wheelchair (forward or backwards), wheelchair occupant body position (upright or leaning forward) and technique in moving the wheelchair (upright with all 4 wheels on ground or in a wheelie position with the wheelchair tipped backwards and balanced on the rear wheels). The ease of getting the occupied wheelchair over the soft surface will be evaluated by the amount of time taken to complete the task, how well the participant completed the task and the ease of performing the task as evaluated by the participant.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • able to communicate in English,
  • alert, cooperative, and competent to provide informed consent,
  • willing to participate (as evidenced by attending the single data-collection session), and
  • have no physical impairments that would prevent their being able to push and pull a wheelchair over a soft surface

Exclusion criteria

  • have unstable medical conditions that might make the handling of a manual wheelchair dangerous, or emotional problems that might make participation unsafe or unpleasant.

Treatment and study plan

Wheelchair forward direction

Other

Participants will move the wheelchair over 5 meters of a soft surface (gym mats) in the forward direction. Participants will push the wheelchair when moving forward.

Wheelchair backward direction

Other

Participants will move the wheelchair over 5 meters of a soft surface (gym mats) in the backward direction. Participants will pull the wheelchair when moving backwards.

Upright technique

Other

Participants will move the wheelchair across the 5 m soft surface using the upright technique. The upright technique involves the wheelchair being moved with all 4 wheels on the ground.

Wheelie technique

Other

Participants will move the wheelchair across the 5 m soft surface using the wheelie technique. The wheelie technique involves the wheelchair being tipped backward and balanced on the rear wheels. Participant wheelchair occupants will always be upright when being moved using the wheelie technique.

Wheelchair occupant upright body position

Other

The participant occupying the wheelchair (wheelchair occupant) will be seated with a body position that is upright (back is leaning against the wheelchair back rest and arms on wheelchair arm rests) while the wheelchair is being moved.

Primary outcomes

  1. Time taken to perform task

    Time frame: through study completion , an average of 1 hour

    The amount of time in seconds taken to perform the task and move the occupied wheelchair across 5 meters of soft surface (gym mats).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Ability to perform task

    Time frame: through study completion , an average of 1 hour

    The ability of the participant to perform the task of moving the occupied wheelchair across the 5 meter soft surface. Participant will be scored using an ordinal scale from 0 to 3 (0 = fail, distance completed < 2.5 m and /or time taken more than 20 seconds, 1=partial pass with distance completed between 2.5 m and 4.9 m and time less than or equal to 20 seconds, 2 = pass with completion of the 5 m distance and time taken between 11 and 20 seconds, and advanced pass = 3 with completion of the 5 m distance and time taken being less than or equal to 10 seconds).

  2. Ease of performing the task

    Time frame: through study completion , an average of 1 hour

    Participant self-reported ease of performing the task of moving the occupied wheelchair over a 5 meter soft surface. A five-point Likert scale with 4 = "very easy", 3 = "somewhat easy", 2 = "neither easy nor difficult", 1 = "somewhat difficult" and 0 = "very difficult".

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Nova Scotia Health Authority

Other

Collaborators

  • Dalhousie University

Registry information

Official study title

Effect of Travel Direction, Body Position and Technique on the Ease of a Caregiver Getting an Occupied Wheelchair Over a Soft Surface: a Randomized Crossover Trial

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
Aug 10, 2021
Registry last updated
Sep 22, 2022

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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