CORRELATION BETWEEN WHEELCHAIR SKILLS AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING MANUAL WHEELCHAIR BOUNDED INDIVIDUALS: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Background:- Wheelchair offers the opportunity to play active roles in society to individuals with mobility limitations. While carrying out various wheelchair skills there are chances of falls due to less knowledge of those skills. So, it is necessary to assess wheelchair skills. At the same time it is also important to measure the physical performance of wheelchair users. Hence this study aimed to see the correlation between wheelchair skills and physical performance among community-dwelling manual wheelchair bounded individuals Objectives:- To assess wheelchair skills and physical performance by using wheelchair skill test (WST) and slalom test respectively and to find out the correlation between two. Setting:- Community setting Methodology:- Wheelchair bounded individuals were included according to the inclusion criteria. After taking informed consent and demographic details wheelchair skills and physical performance were assessed by using WST(version 5.2) and slalom test respectively. Result:- The present study showed the  significant negative correlation between WST and slalom test among community dwelling manual wheelchair bounded individuals Conclusion:- The study concluded that physical performance depend on the capacity score of wheelchair skills.