Design Implications of Comfort and Usability of Manual Stairclimbing Wheelchair: Ergonomic Assessment and Pilot Study Using Surface Electromyography Inputs.

The study is a pilot with very small sample sizes (n=9 for mobility, n=7 for muscle analysis), limiting generalizability. Anthropometric data was collected only from 20 male participants, excluding female and gender-diverse users who have different biomechanical needs. Only two participants with paraplegia were included, providing minimal real-world user validation for the primary target population. Testing occurred in a controlled simulated environment, not real-world settings with uneven terrain or unpredictable obstacles. The wheelchair is a heavy prototype (65 kg) that is not commercially available, and the study did not assess long-term durability or cumulative physical effects. The study focused only on upward stair climbing and flat surface movement; descending stairs was not evaluated.

Funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not interpret the ergonomic recommendations (straight torso, 15-degree lever angle) as clinical guidelines for existing commercial wheelchairs. These settings were derived from a specific, heavy, non-commercial prototype tested on a small group of mostly healthy participants, and the device itself was rated as having poor comfort and maneuverability on flat ground.