Comparison of pushrim kinetics between four different manual wheelchair pushrim conditions

摘要: High repetitive forces to the pushrim have been hypothesized to cause various upper extremity injuries in manual wheelchair users (MWU). The aim of this study was to determine the kinetic changes occurring at the pushrim in relation to four different wheelchair pushrim conditions. A sample of 48-experienced MWU was investigated using a 3-D SMARTWheei system to analyze four different pushrim arrangements (anodized with and without the use of gloves and vinyl coated pushrims with and without a paxbac) at 0.9 and 1.8 m/s. The results revealed that the use of gloves displayed a significantly (p< 0.05) lower radial force compared to two of the other three conditions. Also, a trend of decreased resultant force was observed when gloves were used. Insight into the kinetic differences a MWU encounters when utilizing various wheelchair arrangements may assist researchers in their quest of finding the ideal wheelchair setup. INTRODUCTIONManual wheelchair users (MWU) have shown to have a high prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (4). Increased pressure and or repetitive trauma to the carpal tunnel from large forces and moments not used for propulsion have been thought to be the cause of this injury (4). In the past, researchers have hypothesized that varying the wheelchair pushrim setup may reduce potential damaging forces and moments applied to the wrist during propulsion. Shimada et al. examined seven-experienced (6 male, 1 female) MWU and studied the forces and moments that were applied to the pushrim during propulsion. The subjects performed ten strokes on anodized pushrims with and without the use of fingerless …