Wheelchair satisfaction among elderly Arab and Jewish patients – a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate patient satisfaction with their wheelchairs among Jewish and Arab older adults. Materials and method A cross-sectional study based on personal interviews. Participants were confined to a wheelchair (WC) Level 3. The Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction (scales 1–5) evaluated patient satisfaction. T test evaluated differences between continuous variables and or a Fisher’s exact test between categorical variables. The contribution of background variables to the overall satisfaction with the wheelchair and related service was evaluated by multivariate regression. Results A total of 74 Jewish and 24 Arab (mean age 78.4 ± 14.1), participated in the study. The overall satisfaction score was moderate/high (3.97 ± 0.8) with no difference between the groups. The most important items for all participants were WC safety, comfort and weight. Participants from the Arab sector were less educated, had higher BMI and were less satisfied with the chair dimensions. Conclusions A WC Level 3 may be effective and meets most of the basic needs of both Jewish and Arab patients at older ages. Higher BMI may result in difficulty to adopt to WC dimensions and can explain the less satisfaction of Arab patients with this component. A routine initial phone call follow-up is recommended to all patients after receiving a wheelchair. Those with problems will be scheduled for home visit. It is recommended to perform a study that will include more types of assistive devices and other groups of patients. Implication For Rehabilitation Apparently, despite lack of home visit follow-up, overall satisfaction with wheelchaires is relatively high. Therefore, initial phone calls may be monitored to all patients and home visits may be scheduled only for those unsatisfied with their chair. Converting a home visit to phone call can reduce the costs associated with routine home visits for all patients as is currently the case in some counties. This counts for both Jewish and Arab patients.