Efficacy and Retention of the French-Canadian Version of the Wheelchair Skills Training Program for Manual Wheelchair Users: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Routhier F, Kirby RL, Demers L, Depa M, Thompson K. Efficacy and retention of the French-Canadian version of the Wheelchair Skills Training Program for manual wheelchair users: a randomized controlled trial. ObjectivesTo test the hypotheses that, in comparison with a control group that received standard care, users of manual wheelchairs who also received the French-Canadian version of the Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP) would significantly improve their wheelchair-skills capacity and that these improvements would be retained at 3 months. DesignMulticenter, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. SettingThree rehabilitation centers in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. ParticipantsManual wheelchair users (N=39), a sample of convenience. InterventionParticipants were randomly allocated to the WSTP or control groups. Participants in both groups received standard care. Participants in the WSTP group also received a mean of 5.9 training sessions (a mean total duration of 5h and 36min). Main Outcome MeasuresThe French-Canadian version of the Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) (Version 3.2) was administered at evaluation at first time period (baseline) (t1), evaluation at second time period (posttraining) (t2) (a mean of 47d after t1), and at evaluation at third time period (follow-up) (t3) (a mean of 101d after t2). ResultsAt t2, the mean ± SD total percentage WST capacity scores were 77.4%±13.8% for the WSTP group and 69.8%±18.4% for the control group (P=.030). Most of this difference was due to the community-level skills (P=.002). The total and subtotal Wheelchair Skills Test scores at t3 decreased by ≤0.5% from the t2 values, but differences between groups at t3, adjusting for t1, did not reach statistical significance (P≥.017 at a Bonferroni-adjusted α level of .005). ConclusionWSTP training improves wheelchair skills immediately after training, particularly at the community-skills level, but this study did not show statistically significant differences between the groups at 3 months.