Quantifying wheelchair activity of children: a pilot study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate mobility-related wheelchair activity of children in their community setting.

Design: Mobility-related wheelchair activity data from 18 community-dwelling children (9 manual and 9 electric powered) were collected using custom-designed data logging devices. The children were between 8 and 17 yrs of age and independently used a wheelchair as their primary means of mobility. A data logging device was installed on their wheelchair for 7 days. However, because the device was attached and removed at different times of the day, the first and last days of the study period were not analyzed. Therefore, a total of 5 days of data were used to investigate wheelchair activity.

Results: Overall, the children who used manual wheelchairs traveled on an average of 1602.31 m/day (SD, 976.78) at a speed of 0.67 m/sec (SD, 0.12), and the children who used electric-powered wheelchairs drove 1752.42 m/day (SD, 835.14) at a speed of 0.75 m/sec (SD, 0.35). It was also calculated that the average daily number of starts/ stops per thousand meters the manual and electric-powered wheelchair users completed were 166.77 (SD, 64.32) and 112.53 (SD, 62.27), respectively. A comparison of mobility-related wheelchair activity revealed a significant (P = 0.008) difference in the average daily distance traveled between genders, with the boys traveling further than the girls.

Conclusions: The mobility data obtained from the children wheelchair users suggest that one possible factor of variability among wheelchair activity is between genders. The data collected provide us with direction for future research in this area.