Comparison of Seated Limits of Stability in Wheelchair Users and Able Body Individuals

Research Objectives: To compare seated limits of stability of the upper body in the frontal, sagittal, and axial planes between manual wheelchair users and able body individuals.

Design: Descriptive comparative.

Setting: laboratory

Participants: Eight manual wheelchair users and eight able body subjects. Wheelchair users were classified as high and low function based upon the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Functional Classification System.

Interventions: not applicable

Main Outcome Measures: Upper body range of motion in the frontal, sagittal, and axial planes. Subjects were filmed at 100 Hz while performing ten trials of a seated limits of stability test using a Vicon motion capture system with a full body marker set.

Results: In the sagittal plane the mean difference (MD) and 95% CI for the low function group and able-body was 106.6° (95% CI of difference 74.6° to 138.6°, p < 0.001) and the low function group compared to high function group was MD = 45.7° (8.8° to 82.6°, p = 0.040). The MD for the high function compared to able-body was 60.9° (28.9° to 92.9°, p < 0.001). In the frontal plane MD for the high function group compared to able-body was 23.5° (0.4° to 46.5°, p = .11). MD for low compared to high in frontal plane was 61.8° (35.1° to 88.4°, p < 0.001), and low compared to able-body was 85.2° (62.2° to 108.3°, p < 0.001). Finally, the MD for axial rotation the high function group had similar trunk rotation to able-body −4.0° (−25.2° to 17.3°, p = .93). The MD for low function group compared to able-body was 38.9° (17.7° to 60.1°, p < 0.001) and for low compared to high MD was 42.9° (18.4° to 67.4°, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The limits of stability for wheelchair users in lower and high function classification is lower about all three planes of movement compared to able-bodied individuals.

Author(s) Disclosures: Authors have no conflict of interest to disclose