Role of Wheelchairs and Wheelchairs Assessments: A review (original) (raw)

Wheelchairs are enablers of community participation and are used to enhance function, to improve independence, and to enable a person to successfully live at home and in the community. It is estimated that 70 million people require wheelchairs worldwide (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017) [1]. The most current available data on persons who use wheelchairs comes from the 2008 National Survey of Income and Program Participation, which indicated that there were about 56.7 million people with disabilities (number increased by 2.2 million since 2005) and 3.6 million wheelchair/scooter users in the United States (USA) in 2010 [2]. Despite the vital role of wheelchairs, the substantial number of wheelchair users and the increasing demand on providers to meet their needs, there is currently a lack of comprehensive outcome measures that focus on everyday functioning with a wheelchair. Therefore, appropriate outcome measurements are needed.