‘‘Wheelchair skills capacity, confidence and performance of manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury in selected community of BANGLADESH’’

Abstract

Background: Wheelchair has become an important part of people with Spinal Cord Injury. Most of Spinal Cord Injury people depend on manual wheelchair for community mobility and participate in daily living activities. Wheelchair skills training are provided as a part of community re-integration process for people with spinal cord injury. Occupational therapist has a significant role along with other professionals in wheelchair skills training program. However manual wheelchair users needed to wheelchair skills capacity, confidence for better performance in the community mobility and daily living activities. The purpose of the study is find out the level of wheelchair skills capacity, confidence, performance and associate demographic factors of people with SCI in selected community. Objectives: The objectives are to find out the level of wheelchair skills capacity, confidence, and performance of persons with SCI, to gather the socio-demographic information of wheelchair users with SCI people, to determine compare between level of injury, sex and wheelchair skills capacity, confidence, performance, to find the association between socio-demographic factor (age, causes of injury, pressure sore, duration of a wheelchair use) and wheelchair skills capacity, confidence, performance, to determine the correlation between wheelchair skills capacity among the wheelchair skills confidence and performance. Methodology: The descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the three communities of Bangladesh using WST-Q version 4.3. 90 manual wheelchair users selected purposively from the community. Non-parametric test was used to determine the correlation among wheelchair skills capacity, confidence, performance and association between the demographic factors. Result: The WST-Q capacity, confidence and performance level was good of the manual wheelchair users in the community. The median values for WST-Q capacity, WST-Q confidence, and WST-Q performance were 74.26% (57.02%-78.78%), 75.75% V (66.66%-80.01%), and 72.00% (54.54%-76.47%). The mean age of the wheelchair users was 35 years, standard deviation was 12. 89% participants were male and 11% were female. Most of the participants were paraplegia 70% traumatic 93%, married 62%, Secondary School Certificate 51%, small business 36%. The level of median WST-Q Capacity, WST-Q Confidence and WST-Q Performance among the male and female were 75% (55.92%-78.78%), 75.75% (66.66%-81.81%), 72.005% (52.21%-76.47%) and 71.65% (64.33%-72.27%), 72.72% (64.70%-78.78%), 71.65% (64.50%-76.48%). There are significant P<.537, P<.315, and P<.939. The median levels of WST-Q Capacity, WST-Q Confidence and WST-Q Performance among the tetraplegia and paraplegia were 25.75% (8.82%-55.88%), 32.35% (15.15%-72.72%), 26.51% (15.15%-55.30%) and 76.47% (72.05%-80.30%), 81.81% (78.78%-88.23%), 75% (70.45%-78.30%). Here the significant were P<.000, P<.000, and P<.000. The total WST-Q capacity, confidence, performance scores were not significantly association with age, causes of injury, pressure sore, duration of a wheelchair use. The total WST-Q capacity scores significantly correlated with total WST-Q confidence scores (r=.95; P<.000) and total WST-Q capacity scores significantly correlated with the total WST-Q performance scores (r=.88; P<.000). Conclusion: Many people with SCI are unable to do perform some of the wheelchair skills that would allow them to participate more fully. More intensive wheelchair skills training may improve the wheelchair skills capacity, confidence and performance that will enhance the participation, community mobility and quality of life. Key word: Spinal cord injury, Manual Wheelchair, Capacity, Performance, Confidence.