Wheelchair Skills, Capacity and Performance of Manual Wheelchair Users with Spinal Cord Injury in a Selected Rehabilitation Centre of Bangladesh

Introduction: There is growing recognition that Occupational Therapist has a significant role along with other professional in wheelchair skills training. In rehabilitation center, wheelchair skills are provided as a part of community re-integration process of people with spinal cord injury. However, individual capacity, confidence, performance in wheelchair skills should be prioritized in collaborative treatment plan to ensure occupational functioning of people with spinal cord injury in the community.
Objectives: The objectives are to find out the level of wheelchair skills capacity, confidence, and performance of persons with SCI and determine correlation among capacity, confidence and performance.
Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the community among purposively selected ninety manual wheelchair users using the WST-Q version 4.3. Non-parametric test was used to determine correlation among wheelchair skills capacity, confidence and performance.
Result: The median (inter-quartile range) values for WST-Q capacity, WST-Q confidence, and WST-Q performance were 74.26% (57.02%-78.78%), 75.75% (66.66%-80.01%), and 72.00% (54.54%-76.47%). The total WST-Q capacity scores correlated significantly with the total WST-Q confidence scores (r=.955; p<.000) and total WST-Q performance scores (r=.888; p<.000). Success rates were <70% for12 of the 34 individual skills on the WST-Q.
Conclusion: Wheelchair skills training enhance confidence and participation among people with spinal cord injury. Occupational therapist should focus on improving participation in occupational functioning at community level.