Measurement properties of the Wheelchair Skills Test for scooters among experienced users

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the score distribution, reliability, and validity of the objective Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) for scooter users.

Method: A study using a test–retest design was conducted with 20 people who had mobility limitations that prevented them from ambulating more than one city block without a mobility aid, and who had owned a scooter for ≥3 months. Objective scooter skills, confidence, and physical accessibility were measured at both time points, while anxiety, depression, visual attention and task switching, functional independence, and visual acuity were measured only at baseline.

Results: The mean total WST scores at Time 1 and Time 2 were 86.3% and 87.5%. The WST ICC was 0.889. The WST had a SEM of 2.50 and a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.74. The total WST scores were significantly correlated with total subjective WST-Q scores (r = 0.547, p = 0.013), scooter confidence (r = 0.466, p = 0.038), and were affected by gender (p = 0.005).

Conclusion: The WST for scooters has good test–retest reliability and generally varies as anticipated with other measures. Although further study is needed, the WST for scooters appears to have promise for use in research and clinical practice.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• It is important to understand the measurement properties of the tools we use in rehabilitation so the results can be interpreted correctly.

• As scooter use increases, better measurement of skills is required.

Keywords:

• Mobility scooter
• reliability
• validity
• mobility limitation

Disclosure statement

No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided via an open operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (F15-00959). This first author (WBM) was also supported by a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.