Effectiveness of a power wheelchair battery maintenance intervention

Research Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a power wheelchair battery maintenance intervention in reducing wheelchair failures and repair costs

Design: Failure incidence evaluation and cost-utility analysis based on observations in a randomized clinical trial

Setting: National Health Service (NHS) WestMARC serving the community of wheelchair users in Greater Glasgow, Scotland

Participants: Users (N=237) of Invacare Mirage power wheelchair with wheelchair age between 12-50 months

Interventions: Participants were randomly assigned to a wheelchair battery maintenance intervention (n=119) or standard care (n=118) for 12 months. The intervention included the installation of DealerData - a remote wheelchair usage and battery health monitoring device, and training users on battery charging if their battery health levels are below the threshold during daily use.

Main Outcome Measures: Frequency of power wheelchair part failures and costs, including part costs, technician travel, administration, and labor, associated with corresponding repairs

Results: The maintenance intervention led to a 13% reduction (274 intervention vs. 316 control) in power wheelchair repairs leading to an 11% reduction (3092GBP) in repair costs. Out of 119 participants receiving the intervention, 54 were contacted for regularly charging batteries and 26 showed an improvement in battery charging behavior. Participant’s age and drive time per month were associated with total repairs (F(2,118)=26.12, p<.01, R2=.31), electronic repairs (F(2,118)=8.35, p<.01, R2=.12), battery repairs (F(2,118)=5.59, p<.01, R2=.08), and caster repairs (F(2,118)=13.6, p<.01, R2=.19) and total repair costs (F(2,118)=26.97, p<.01, R2=.32). Drive time per month predicted time-to-failure for wheelchair parts (F(1,119)=17.1, p<.01, R2=.13).

Conclusions: Power wheelchair monitoring and technician-led battery maintenance training reduce battery repairs and repair costs. Wheelchair provision stakeholders can monitor wheelchair usage and build usage-driven wheelchair servicing practices to prevent wheelchair repairs and associated user consequences.

Author(s) Disclosures: No disclosures