Reducing pressure with the goal of improving outcomes: a retrospective chart review of cushion evaluations and recommendations at one seating clinic.

Purpose: To describe the current seating recommendations made by a seating clinic for wheelchair users who presented with a Pressure Injury (PrI) or history of PrI.

Methods: Retrospective review of electronic medical records of 133 adults who used a wheelchair as their primary means of mobility who had a cushion evaluation during which interface pressure mapping data was documented.

Results: Clinicians adjusted 71% of participants' wheelchair cushions, including 49% who received a new cushion, and 37% of participants' wheelchairs.

The participation and activity measurement system: an example application among people who use wheeled mobility devices.

Purpose: To present the Participation and Activity Measurement System (PAMS), a system designed to examine activity and participation among people who use wheeled mobility devices.

Methods: Description of PAMS' components and an example of its application among people who use tilt-in-space wheelchairs.

Results: PAMS combines objective and subjective descriptions of mobility-based activities within a person's home and community.

Use of power tilt systems in everyday life.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to monitor and describe the use of power tilt systems in everyday life. Additionally, tilt measurements were used to determine if participants performed regular pressure relieves.

Methods: Wheelchair occupancy and seat position of 16 fulltime power wheelchair users were monitored regularly for 1-2 weeks.

Characterization of power wheelchair use in the home and community.

Objective: To characterize the use of power wheelchairs and to determine if multiple measures of mobility and occupancy jointly provide a more comprehensive picture of wheelchair usage and daily activity in full-time power wheelchair users than daily distance alone.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Subjects' everyday mobility was measured in their homes and communities for 2 weeks, and prompted recall interviews were conducted by phone.

Effect of seat inclination on seated pressures of individuals with spinal cord injury.

Background And Purpose: Manual wheelchair configurations commonly include "squeezing" the wheelchair frame to improve balance for users with spinal cord injuries. This squeezing is achieved by lowering the rear portion of the seat relative to the front of the seat while maintaining the same back angle. The study's purpose was to examine the effect of increasing posterior seat inclination on buttock interface pressures.