The Wheelchair Circuit: Construct Validity and Responsiveness of a Test to Assess Manual Wheelchair Mobility in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury
By Kilkens, Olga J., MSc; Dallmeijer, Annet J., PhD; de Witte, Luc P., PhD; van der Woude, Lucas H., PhD; Post, Marcel W., PhD; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 85, No. 3, pp. 424-431Publication Date: March 2004
Study conducted to assess the validity and responsiveness of the Wheelchair Circuit, which is a test designed to assess manual wheelchair mobility in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The Wheelchair Circuit consists of eight different standardized items that are conditioned to achieve independent wheelchair mobility. The items used in the circuit have varying degrees of difficulty to make the circuit suitable to assess the wheelchair skills of persons with different competence levels. Test results are processed by considering performance time, ability, and physical strain. Seventy-four people with SCI participated in the study, which was conducted in eight different rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands. The construct validity of the Wheelchair Circuit was assessed by testing whether the assessment scores were significantly related to the participants’ functional status, physical capacity, lesion level, motor completeness of the lesion, and age. Test results indicated that four of the five hypotheses tested by the researchers were confirmed for construct validity. For test responsiveness, all three test scores demonstrated significant improvement during rehabilitation. The authors conclude that the Wheelchair Circuit is a valid and responsive instrument to measure manual wheelchair mobility in rehabilitation clients with SCI.
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
