Should I stay or should I go? An exploratory study comparing wheelchair-adapted rowing at home vs. in community gyms

Abstract

Purpose

Wheelchair users experience many barriers to physical activity as affordable and accessible exercise equipment options are limited. Thus, the home-based adapted rower (aROW) and gym-based aROW were developed. The objectives were to determine: 1) wheelchair users’ preferences, perspectives, facilitators, and barriers to using the home-based versus the gym-based aROW, 2) perceived usability of the home and gym aROWs, and 3) recommendations to adapt the aROW further for home and community use.

Materials and Methods

In this two-phase exploratory mixed-methods study, participants completed one month of using a home aROW, followed by one month of using a community gym aROW. After each phase, participants completed a semi-structured interview and the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. Interview data were analyzed using conventional content analysis and effect size comparing SUS data was calculated.

Results and Conclusions

Four categories were identified: what worked well, barriers to using the aROWs, what could be improved and important considerations. There was a large effect size in perceived usability between the aROWs with participants preferring the home aROW. Overall, rowing was enjoyable, and participants achieved positive physical outcomes. As preferences are individual, the home aROW provides wheelchair users with a potential choice between home or gym exercise.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Rowing is an enjoyable and effective form of aerobic exercise for wheelchair users

• Wheelchair users experience social, environment and financial barriers to engaging in exercise

• The home aROW provides a low-cost and accessible option for wheelchair-adapted aerobic exercise

Keywords:

• Wheelchair
• adapted
• rowing
• exercise
• aerobic
• home
• gym
• technology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data generated and analyzed during the study are available from the authors on request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Rick Hansen Foundation under an ICORD seed grant.