Effect of technique and transfer board use on the performance of wheelchair transfers.

Giulia Barbareschi,Catherine Holloway,Tsu‐Jui Cheng

doi:10.1049/htl.2017.0075

Giulia Barbareschi, Catherine Holloway + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1049/htl.2017.0075

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Abstract

Transferring to and from the wheelchair seat is a necessary skill for many wheelchair users who wish to be independent of their everyday life. The performance of wheelchair transfers has been associated with the risk of falling and developing upper limb injuries. Both present a risk to the independence of the individual. Previous studies on wheelchair transfers have focused mainly on the analysis of sitting transfers performed by individuals with spinal cord injury, which only represent a small portion of the wider wheelchair users’ population. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different transferring techniques (sitting, standing) and transfer board use on the ground reaction forces under the hands during transfer performance and transfer quality measured using the transfer assessment instrument (TAI). Sitting transfers displayed generally higher peak and mean reaction forces underneath both leading and trailing hands compared with the other techniques, but the difference was only significant between sitting and standing transfers. Standing transfers had significantly lower TAI scores compared with sitting transfer, potentially indicating a decreased level of safety associated with their performance. Transfer boards were only partially effective in reducing the weight born by the upper limbs and they caused only a minor reduction in the overall TAI score in comparison to sitting transfers.

Highlights

Performing a transfer to and from the wheelchair seat is a necessary skill for wheelchair users who want to complete independently many activities of daily living [1]
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different transferring techniques and transfer board use on the ground reaction forces under the hands during transfer performance and transfer quality measured using the transfer assessment instrument (TAI)
Sitting pivot transfers are routinely performed by wheelchair users without an spinal cord injury (SCI) and inclusion criteria for studies on wheelchair transfers should be based on functional ability rather than medical condition in order to produce more generalisable results [9]

Summary

Introduction

Performing a transfer to and from the wheelchair seat is a necessary skill for wheelchair users who want to complete independently many activities of daily living [1]. The number of wheelchair transfers performed daily by wheelchair users varies greatly, with some studies reporting an average number as low as eight transfers per day [2], while others estimate numbers which are closer to 20 transfers per day [3]. It might seem surprising at first, this large variation should be expected. Sitting pivot transfers are routinely performed by wheelchair users without an SCI and inclusion criteria for studies on wheelchair transfers should be based on functional ability rather than medical condition in order to produce more generalisable results [9]. The few studies that evaluated the effectiveness of transfer boards on reducing forces during wheelchair transfers were carried out on assisted transfers of dependent patients performed by health operators [13, 14]

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