Effect of various wheelchair handle grip directions on muscle activities of upper body of assistant during movement on ascending and descending ramps.
Sang-Yeol Lee, Su-Kyoung Lee, Su-Hong Ahn
PMID 29643580WHAT IT FOUND
When a healthy assistant pushed a weighted wheelchair up a ramp, the common general grip made the biceps, forearm, and wrist flexor work hardest.
Grip direction changed muscle loading, but the study did not test caregivers or injury.
Key findings
01During ascending ramp movement, the general grip had the highest reported mean activity for the biceps brachii, brachioradialis, and flexor carpi radialis.
02During descending ramp movement, the general grip had the highest reported mean activity for the biceps brachii, while the medial grip had the highest reported mean activity for the triceps brachii.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The participants were 17 young and healthy people, not caregivers with pain or musculoskeletal problems. The study used a 60 kg weight to simulate a person and a 1:8 ramp, so it did not test a real passenger on that ramp. No lower-extremity EMG was recorded, so compensation in the legs cannot be determined. The outcome was muscle activity, not pain, injury, or long-term function.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that a grip prevents caregiver musculoskeletal injury. It measured muscle activity in 17 healthy young people pushing a weighted wheelchair on a 1:8 ramp, not pain or injury in real caregivers.