Independent Wheelchair Transfers in the Built Environment: How Transfer Setup Impacts Performance Phase 2: Final Report

Seat Width Evaluation

An 18 inch seat was the smallest of the platform seat widths available in this study and was suitable for many participants (the 25th through 95th percentiles) for their level, highest and lowest height transfer regardless of the presence or absence of grab bars or a backrest on the transfer surfaces.  The 5th percentile wheelchair users however required transfer platform width of 25 inches if there were grab bars on the platform and 27 inches without the grabs bars.  The additional two inches for the simple platform transfer was likely needed to allow hand placement or grip directly on the transfer surface. The additional platform width may also have been needed to accommodate larger individuals; however the size of the individual and seat width of the wheelchair were not measured and therefore cannot be used to explain the transfer platform widths selected by the participants in the study. Seat width preference did not change much over the protocols. It was felt that some participants would have had greater performance on the station if they had opted for a larger seat width and more room to position the hands for transfer, but since they did not ask to increase the width when the option was offered it was left the same. It may be of value in future work to investigate transfer performance when the seat width is forced to vary between protocols and transfer trials. This was not done in the current study to minimize the number of transfers performed.