- Assesses manual wheelchair mobility (i.e., skill and performance).
- Tasks cover 3 aspects of mobility:
1) Tempo (tasks = figure-of-8 shape and sprint)
2) Technical skill (tasks = crossing a doorstep, mounting a platform, and transferring)
3) Physical capacity (tasks = wheelchair propulsion and ascending slopes).
Clinical Considerations
- The performance time and physical strain are useful to monitor progress once the individual achieves a maximal score on the ability score or if they have not demonstrated any change over repeated administrations.
- The WC includes functional tasks developed specifically for the SCI population. However, the tasks are only relevant to manual wheelchair users. Some tasks may be too difficult / not suitable if individuals have medical complications or are older.
- The Wheelchair Circuit consists of 9 observational tasks on mobility; this may cause significant patient and clinician burden.
ICF Domain
Activity ▶ Mobility
Administration
Approx. 30-45 min, 8-9 tasks (with 2 min of rest between each task).
Number of Items
9
Equipment
- Adjustable mat
- Wheelchair Treadmill (with 3% and 6% grade)
- Heart Rate monitor, Stopwatch
- 0.10 m platform on floor
- Wood doorstep height 0.4 m
- Open space
- 15 m corridor
Scoring
- Successful performance of the task (Y/N), time (seconds), and/or physical strain (peak HR) are recorded. Ability score (0-8 or 0-9): number of tasks completed adequately. For 3 tasks, 0.5 may be awarded if it is partially completed. Separate scores for ability (ordinal scale); performance time (seconds); and physical strain (formula using HR data) are calculated.
- For the 8-item version:
- Performance time score: sum of the times taken during “figure-of-8-shape” and “15m-sprint”
- Physical strain score: mean peak HR between 3% & 6% slope tasks, expressed in bpm or %HRR
Languages
N/A
Training Required
None, however experience in exercise testing is helpful.
Availability
Can be found here
Measurement Property Summary
# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 6
Interpretability
MCID: not established in SCI
SEM:
| Performance Time: Task | SEM |
|---|---|
| Figure-of-8 shape | 1.5 |
| Crossing doorstep | 2.2 |
| Mounting platform | 2.3 |
| Sprint | 0.6 |
| Transfer | 12.2 |
| Peak Heart Rate: Task | |
| Figure-of-8 shape | 6.8 |
| Crossing doorstep | 6.4 |
| Mounting platform | 7.7 |
| Sprint | 7.5 |
| Walking | 4.4 |
| 3% slope | 9.1 |
| 6% slope | 6.7 |
| Wheelchair driving | 6.9 |
| Transfer | 9.2 |
(Calculated from Kilkens et al., 2002: N=27; mixed injury types; final stage of clinical rehabilitation)
MDC:
| Test table | Test |
|---|---|
| Figure-of-8 shape | 4.1 |
| Crossing doorstep | 6.1 |
| Mounting platform | 6.2 |
| Sprint | 1.5 |
| Transfer | 33.8 |
| Peak Heart Rate: Task | |
| Figure-of-8 shape | 18.9 |
| Crossing doorstep | 17.7 |
| Mounting platform | 21.3 |
| Sprint | 20.9 |
| Walking | 12.2 |
| 3% slope | 25.3 |
| 6% slope | 18.5 |
| Wheelchair driving | 19.2 |
| Transfer | 25.7 |
(Calculated from Kilkens et al., 2002: N=27; mixed injury types; final stage of clinical rehabilitation)
- No normative data is available for the SCI population
- Published data for the SCI population is available for comparison (see the Interpretability section of the Study Details sheet).
Reliability
- Inter-rater Reliability is High for the WC (Intraclass Correlational Coefficient = 0.97), WC – Overall task feasibility/ability (ICC = 0.76-0.98), and WC – Task feasibility/ability for individual items (ICC = 0.82-0.99) (Peak HRs)
- Intra-rater Reliability is Moderate to High for the WC – Overall task feasibility/ability (ICC = 0.71-0.99), and WC – Performance times (ICC = 0.68-0.96) (Peak HRs)
(Kilkens et al., 2002: N=27; mixed injury types; final stage of clinical rehabilitation)
Validity
Correlations between FIM – mobility subscale, FIM – peak power output and FIM – VO2 peak and FIM – performance time score are High.
(Kilkens et al. 2004)
Responsiveness
Standardized response mean between start of rehabilitation program and discharge is:
- 0.6 for Ability score
- 0.9 for Performance time score
- 0.8 for Physical strain score.
(Kilkens et al. 2004)
Floor/Ceiling Effect
No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the WC for the SCI population.
Reviewers
Dr. Bill Miller, Matthew Querée, Gita Manhas
Date Last Updated
22 July 2020
Dallmeijer AJ, van der Woude LH, Hollander AP, van As HH. Physical performance during rehabilitation in persons with spinal cord injuries. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999;31:1330-1335.
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/10487376
Harvey LA, Batty J, Fahey A. Reliability of a tool for assessing mobility in wheelchair-dependent paraplegics. Spinal Cord 1998;36:427-431.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9648200
Janssen TW, van Oers CA, van der Woude LH, Hollander AP. Reliability of heart rate response to non-steady-state activities of daily living in men with spinal cord injuries. Scand J Rehabil Med 1994;26:71-78.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7939495
Kilkens OJ, Dallmeijer AJ, De Witte LP, Van Der Woude LH, Post MW. The Wheelchair Circuit: Construct validity and responsiveness of a test to assess manual wheelchair mobility in persons with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:424-431.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15031828
Kilkens OJ, Post MW, van der Woude LH, Dallmeijer AJ, van den Heuvel WJ. The Wheelchair Circuit: reliability of a test to assess mobility in persons with spinal cord injuries. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1783-1788.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12474187
