Pushrim kinetics during advanced wheelchair skills in manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury.

Objective: To assess the peak force during wheelchair propulsion of individuals with spinal cord injury propelling over obstacles from the Wheelchair Skills Test.

Participants/methods: Twenty-three individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) who are full-time manual wheelchair users were included in this prospective study. A SmartWheel (Three Rivers Holdings, LLC) was used to analyze each push while subjects negotiated standardized obstacles used in the Wheelchair Skills Test, including tile, carpet, soft surface, 5° and 10° ramps, 2 cm, 5 cm, and 15 cm curbs.