RehabMove 2018: DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE RESISTANCE FOR ASSESSING WHEELCHAIR PROPULSION PERFORMANCE USING THE LODE ESSEDA ERGOMETER
| Main Authors: | Briley, S., Hutchinson, M.J., O'Brien, T.J., Mason, B.S., Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. |
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| Format: | Proceeding |
| Terbitan: |
, 2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/1482810 |
Daftar Isi:
- PURPOSE: The development of dual-roller wheelchair ergometers, such as the Esseda (Lode B.V., Groningen, The Netherlands) allows performance during wheelchair propulsion (WCP) to be assessed in a controlled setting. However, the resistance applied to the rollers must be such, as to reflect the biomechanical and physiological demands of overground WCP. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the appropriate resistance for using the Esseda to assess WCP in a sports wheelchair. METHODS: Seven able-bodied participants familiar with WCP completed three trials on i) a motorised treadmill (1% incline), and on the Esseda with the resistance set at ii) 0.022 and iii) 0.024 arbitrary units. Participants pushed a sports wheelchair for 4-min at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 m·s-1, with 5-min rest between bouts. Oxygen uptake (V̇ O2), ventilation (VE) and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were measured throughout trials. Resultant forces applied to the push rim were collected over 15 consecutive push cycles using an instrumented SMARTWHEEL on the right side of the wheelchair. One dimensional statistical parametric mapping was used to evaluate differences between the mean, time-normalised, resultant force waveforms in MATLAB. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in physiological responses between trials. Mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were narrower for 0.024 than 0.022 when compared to the treadmill for V̇ O2 (0.32, -6.94-7.00 vs -0.51, -7.05-6.03 ml·kg-1·min-1), VE (-1.5, -29.8-26.7 vs -4.3, -28.6-20.1 L·min-1) and RER (-0.05, -0.20-0.10 vs -0.04, -0.22-0.14). Mean resultant force waveforms did not differ between conditions at any speed. CONCLUSIONS:To replicate the physiological and biomechanical responses to WCP on a treadmill on the Esseda wheelchair ergometer, a resistance of 0.024 seems advisable. Further investigation is required to determine if the resistance is representative of over-ground WCP on different surfaces.