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Abstract
Purpose: To characterize the life-space mobility and social participation of manual wheelchair users using objective measures of wheeled mobility.
Method: Individuals (n = 49) were included in this cross-sectional study if they were aged 50 or older, community-dwelling and used their wheelchair on a daily basis for the past 6 months. Life-space mobility and social participation were measured using the life-space assessment and late-life disability instrument. The wheeled mobility variables (distance travelled, occupancy time, number of bouts) were captured using a custom-built data logger.
Results: After controlling for age and sex, multivariate regression analyses revealed that the wheeled mobility variables accounted for 24% of the life-space variance. The number of bouts variable, however, did not account for any appreciable variance above and beyond the occupancy time and distance travelled. Occupancy time and number of bouts were significant predictors of social participation and accounted for 23% of the variance after controlling for age and sex.
Conclusions: Occupancy time and distance travelled are statistically significant predictors of life-space mobility. Lower occupancy time may be an indicative of travel to more distant life-spaces, whereas the distance travelled is likely a better reflection of mobility within each life-space. Occupancy time and number of bouts are significant predictors of participation frequency.
Component measures of wheelchair mobility, such as distance travelled, occupancy time and number of bouts, are important predictors of life-space mobility and social participation in adult manual wheelchair users.
Lower occupancy time is an indication of travel to more distant life-spaces, whereas distance travelled is likely a better reflection of mobility within each life-space.
That lower occupancy time and greater number of bouts are associated with more frequent participation raises accessibility and safety issues for manual wheelchair users.
Implications for rehabilitation
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Funding information
This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Doctoral Scholarship, and Operating Grant IAP-107848), and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (Junior Scholar Award).