Wheelchair skills training can improve independent wheeled mobility for daily living activities as well as functional and social participation of adults with cervical spinal cord injury (C-SCI). The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of wheelchair skills training in improving both wheelchair skills and upper arm skilled performance in adults with C-SCI. In a randomized controlled study, 24 adults with tetraplegia were randomized and allocated to training group (n = 13) or control group (n = 11). The training group attended wheelchair skills training sessions, whereas the control group attended conventional exercise sessions. All interventions lasted 8 weeks, with a frequency of 3 days per week. All individuals were tested with the Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) and the van Lieshout Test (VLT). The test was repeated at pre- and post-training (after 4 weeks and 8 weeks). For WST, univariate analysis demonstrated significant main effects in between-group, within-group, and group-by-time interaction (p < 0.05). VLT showed no significant effect in between-group comparison (p > 0.05), whereas within-group comparison of test times and group-by-time interaction showed significant main effects (p < 0.05). Thus, wheelchair skills training is more beneficial for adults with C-SCI than conventional exercise.

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