The Impact of Transfer Setup on the Performance of Independent Transfers: Phase I Final Report

Subjects
The sample consisted of 95 men and 25 women with an average age of 47.7 ± 15.3 years, body weight of 77.8 ± 21.8 kg, and height of 1.70 ± 0.14 m. We enrolled subjects with a broad variety of disabilities ranging from spinal cord injury (SCI), multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy (CP), and post-polio among others.

Table 1 contains the self-reported type of disabilities and the number of subjects that reported them. We asked those with spinal cord injury to report their level of injury as well as type of injury (complete or incomplete). Table 2 contains the self-reported levels of spinal cord injuries (C-cervical, T-Thoracic, and L-Lumbar) for the subjects that reported only spinal cord injury as their type of disability; 59% of this group reported having incomplete spinal cord injuries.

Table 1 . Subjects’ self-reported type of disability (n=120).

Table 1 Alternative Text Description: This table gives the Subjects’ self-reported type of disability. There are two columns; the left side lists the disability and the right side gives the number of subjects who reported having that disability.  The total number of subjects adds up to 120.

Table 2 . Level of spinal cord injury for the subjects that only self-reported SCI as their disability (n=54).

Abbreviation: C= Cervical, T=Thoracic, L=Lumbar

Table 2 Alternative Text Description: This table gives the level of spinal cord injury for the subjects that only self-reported SCI as their disability.  There are two columns; the left side list the level of injury and the right side lists the number of subjects who reported having that level of spinal cord injury.  The total number of subjects that reported SCI as their disability was 54.

The sample as a whole had been using a WMD for 14.9 ±12.1 years with a range from 1 to 59 years. Wheelchair seat plus the cushion height measured at the edge was 21.6 ± 1.4” (54.8 ± 3.4 cm)  median was 22” (55.8 cm) and range: 17 – 25” (43.2 – 63.5 cm). There were 84 manual wheelchair, 29 power wheelchair, 5 scooter, and 2 power assist users. 18% (22/120) reported using assistive technology for transfers: 14 used transfer board, 3 lifts, 3 canes, and 2 walkers.

Four of the 120 subjects enrolled in the study met inclusion criteria for independent transfer but were unable to transfer to/from the station based on space constraints and their method of approach.  All these subjects were power wheelchair users except for subject S4 who used a manual wheelchair. Subject S3 used a transfer board in his transfers. This group’s demographics are expanded in The remaining 116 subjects completed all or portions of the study.  The reason for not completing all portions of the study was mainly due to time constraints, such as having to end participation in the study because the participants were short on time. Figure 8 summarizes the number of subjects for each protocol.  A few subjects ended the study early due to experiencing fatigue or pain.  The average number of transfers performed during the study was 22.9 ± 9.6 (range: 0-48). Moving from the WMD to the transfer station and from the transfer station to the WMD counted as two transfers.

Table 3. Demographics characteristics of the subjects who were not able to attain any transfers.

Table 3 Alternative Text Description: This table gives the demographic characteristics of the subjects who were not able to attain any transfers.  The table lists four subjects (three male and one female).  Three of the subjects had cerebral palsy and one had a stroke and double above knee amputation.  The numbers of known years each of these subjects have been using a WMD ranges from 4-52 years. 

Figure 8 .  Total number of subjects that attempted each protocol and that were unattainable.