Relationship between the duration and trunk inclination and hip angle during car transfer in individuals with tetraplegia.
Masataka Kataoka, Kuniharu Okuda, Masato Shima and 4 others
PMID 27799668WHAT IT FOUND
In 11 men with C6 tetraplegia, shorter wheelchair-to-car transfers were linked with more hip flexion, not more trunk lean.
Key findings
01In 11 men with C6 tetraplegia, wheelchair-to-car transfer duration ranged from 9 to 39 seconds.
02Transfer duration was not correlated with trunk inclination angle, but was significantly correlated with hip angle.
03Transfers took less time when hip flexion was substantial.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 11 men with C6 tetraplegia, so it cannot be applied broadly to women or other injury levels. Participants performed transfers in their own cars and wheelchairs, and the experimental conditions were not fixed, so movement strategies were not controlled. The analysis was two-dimensional in the sagittal plane, so the reported angles are not precise. Differences in cars and wheelchairs were not taken into consideration, even though the seat height difference was less than 10 cm. The study found associations only, so it did not show that a transfer strategy caused a faster transfer.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that deliberately increasing hip flexion will make car transfer faster. The study measured 11 men using their own strategy and only found an association.