Comparison Between Objective Biomechanical Cost and Perceived Physical Demand in Manual Wheelchair Users During Propulsion Tasks

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Instrumented Manual Wheelchair Propulsion Tasks (Motion Analysis and Instrumented Handrims): Participants perform standardized manual wheelchair propulsion tasks (straight-line propulsion, propulsion with a concurrent cognitive dual task, propulsion on a ramp, on varied floor surfaces, with turns, and along a path with an object to reach) while equipped with reflective motion-capture markers and using wheels instrumented with 6-axis force sensors on the handrim, in order to estimate biomechanical loading at the shoulder and relate it to subjective measures of perceived demand.

Concurrent Cognitive Task (Auditory-Verbal 2-back): An auditory-verbal 2-back task is added concurrently to a propulsion task (dual task) to examine the effect of cognitive load on propulsion technique and on cognitive performance, compared to single-task propulsion.

Study summary

Wheelchair users must be able to move around freely and access public buildings and transport, but current accessibility standards (e.g. maximum 8% ramp slope) are based on limited scientific evidence about the real biomechanical and perceived difficulties encountered by manual wheelchair users in daily life.

Manual wheelchair propulsion is not purely a motor activity: it also involves cognitive and emotional demands (attention, trajectory planning, stress and frustration management) that contribute to a mental workload. This cognitive dimension is still rarely integrated into biomechanical evaluation protocols.

This exploratory (pilot) study aims to test the feasibility of a protocol combining objective biomechanical data (shoulder joint loading estimated from motion capture and instrumented handrims) with the subjective experience of participants (perceived physical demand from the NASA-TLX questionnaire, perceived exertion from the Borg scale), during standardized and more realistic manual wheelchair propulsion tasks, including tasks performed under an added cognitive load (auditory-verbal 2-back dual task).

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Correlation Between Perceived Physical Demand (NASA-TLX) and Objective Biomechanical Shoulder Load — During the experimental session (Day 1)
  Spearman correlation between the physical demand subscore of the NASA-TLX questionnaire and the biomechanical cost estimated at the shoulder (kinematic and kinetic parameters derived from motion capture and instrumented handrim force data, using an upper-limb biomechanical model), during simple and more physically demanding propulsion tasks (ramp, floor surface change).

Trial sites (1)

More Centre Médico-Chirurgical de Réadaptation des Massues Croix Rouge Française trials in France

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