A cross-sectional survey investigating wheelchair skills training in Ireland

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of demographic information by setting and role (N = 91).

Type of facility^a	Occupational therapy	Technical personnel	Total responses
Acute Hospital	9 (9%)	0	9
Primary Care	32 (35%)	0	32
Rehabilitation	17 (18%)	0	17
Community Care	27 (29%)	1 (1%)	28
Nursing Home	7 (8%)	0	7

Type of Facility ^aallowed for multiple responses.

Table 2. Summary of demographic information by years in service delivery and role (N = 91).

Years in wheelchair service delivery	Occupational therapy	Technical personnel	Total responses
Less than 5 years	36 (40%)	0	36
6–10 years	15 (16%)	0	15
11–15 years	18 (20%)	1 (1%)	19
16–20 years	10 (11%)	0	10
20 years or more	11 (12%)	0	11

Table 3. Summary of each component of wheelchair skills taught reported by health professionals showing frequency of occurrence and percentages of responses.

Component on wheelchair skills training	Always^a	Sometimes^b	Never
Maintenance and repair n = 91	39 (43%)	38 (42%)	14 (15%)
Transfers n = 91	85 (93%)	6 (7%)	0
Basic mobility n = 91	65 (71.4%)	23 (25.3%)	3 (3.3%)
Advanced mobility n = 81	23 (28%)	41 (51%)	17 (21%)
ADLs n = 91	41 (45%)	41 (45%)	9 (10%)
IADLs n = 91	28 (31%)	53 (58%)	10 (11%)

Always^a, collapsed variables for “always” and “almost always”; sometimes^b, collapsed variables for “sometimes” and “rarely”.

Table 4. Detailed breakdown of the percentages of reported confidence instructing basic mobility skills by health professional’s position.

Role	Very confident* (%)	Somewhat confident* (%)	Not at all confident (%)
Clinical Specialist	100	0	0
Senior Grade OT	80	20	0
Staff Grade OT	76	18	3
Qualified Technical Personnel	100	0	0

Very confident*, collapsed variables for “very confident” and “moderately confident”; Somewhat confident*, collapsed variables for “somewhat confident” and “only slightly confident”.

Table 5. Detailed breakdown of the percentages of reported confidence instructing advanced mobility skills by health professional’s position.

Role	Very Confident* (%)	Somewhat Confident* (%)	Not at all confident (%)
Clinical Specialist	0	100	0
Senior Grade OT	37	44	17
Staff Grade OT	32	41	24
Qualified Technical Personnel	100	0	0

Very confident*, collapsed variables for “very confident” and “moderately confident”; Somewhat confident*, collapsed variables for “somewhat confident” and “only slightly confident”.

Table 6. Summary of health professionals’ reported confidence instructing each component of wheelchair skills taught showing percentages of responses.

Component on wheelchair skills training	Very confident^a	Somewhat confident^a	Not at all confident
Maintenance and repair n = 89	46 (52%)	31 (35%)	12 (13%)
Transfers n = 89	83 (93%)	6 (7%)	0
Basic mobility n = 89	71 (80%)	17 (19%)	1 (1%)
Advanced mobility n = 63	22 (35%)	39 (62%)	2 (3%)
ADLs n = 88	71 (81%)	15 (17%)	2 (2%)
IADLs n = 87	58 (67%)	27 (31%)	2 (2%)

Very confident*, collapsed variables for “very confident” and “moderately confident”; somewhat confident*, collapsed variables for “somewhat confident” and “only slightly confident”.

Figure 1. Detailed breakdown of the reported number of wheelchair skills training sessions completed with users by health professionals showing frequencies of responses.

Figure 2. Detailed breakdown of the reported number of hours spent completing wheelchair skills training with users by health professionals showing frequencies of responses.

Figure 3. Detailed breakdown of percentages of additional training methods (outside of their professional training) health professionals used to obtain knowledge in wheelchair skills.