ubject- and Injury-Related Factors Influencing the Course of anual Wheelchair Skill Performance During Initial Inpatient ehabilitation of Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

Objectives: To study changes in wheelchair skills in subects with spinal cord injury (SCI) during rehabilitation; to etermine whether changes in wheelchair skill performance are elated to the subject, lesion characteristics, secondary compliations, and upper extremity pain; and to investigate if wheelhair skill performance at discharge can be predicted from hese features. Design: Longitudinal. Subjects performed the Wheelchair ircuit 3 times during rehabilitation: at admission (t1), 3 onths later (t2), and at discharge (t3). Setting: Eight rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands. Participants: One hundred twenty-one subjects with SCI. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: The Wheelchair Circuit consists f 8 wheelchair skills and results in 3 test scores: ability, erformance time, and physical strain. Results: All the scores of the Wheelchair Circuit imroved significantly between t1 and t2, and between t2 and 3. The scores were related to age and lesion level, whereas hanges in scores were related to age, sex, lesion level, and econdary complications. The variables age, body mass inex, sex, lesion level, motor completeness, and secondary omplications contributed significantly to the prediction of he scores at t3. Conclusions: Wheelchair skill performance improved durng rehabilitation. Personal and lesion characteristics are most mportant for improving wheelchair skill performance and preicting wheelchair skill performance.