OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of wheelchair skills training on confidence in older adults who are inexperienced with using a wheelchair. DESIGN: Parallel group, single blind randomized controlled trial SETTING: Vancouver, Canada PARTICIPANTS: Participants (n = 20) who were community-living older adults at least 65 years old (mean 70 years), 50% female, and who had no prior experience using a wheelchair were randomly allocated to an intervention (n = 10) or control (n = 10) group. INTERVENTION: The intervention group received two 1-hour training sessions that followed the Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP) protocol. The control group received a single socialization contact. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The Wheelchair Use Confidence Scale-Manual (WheelCon-M) was used to evaluate confidence with using a manual wheelchair. The WheelCon-M is a self-report questionnaire comprised of 65 items in 6 conceptual areas. RESULTS: A 1-way between groups analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference in post-intervention WheelCon-M scores between the intervention and control groups (F[1,17] = 10.9, p = 0.004) after controlling for baseline WheelCon-M scores. A large effect size was also observed (partial eta squared = 0.39). Secondary analyses revealed the WSTP had greater effects on confidence in areas related to maneuvering around the physical environment, knowledge and problem solving, advocacy, and managing emotions, than in areas related to performing activities and behaving in social situations. CONCLUSION: Two 1-hour WSTP sessions improves confidence with using a manual wheelchair among older adults, inexperienced with using a wheelchair.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher