Independent Wheelchair Transfers in the Built Environment: How Transfer Setup Impacts Performance Phase 2: Final Report

Initial Measures and Transfer Setup

Wheelchair measurements were completed without the person seated in their wheelchair.  The device seat to floor height was measured as the linear distance between the front of the seat, center-line point on top of the cushion (if present) and the floor (Figure 3 left).  This location was chosen to account for any hammocking, wear or compression of the seat upholstery and/or cushion.  However, for the setup of the baseline level transfer (when the person and mobility device were in a position next to platform ready to transfer), if there was a noticeable difference (one inch or more) between the occupied seat-to-floor height at the same center-line point at the front of the seat (plus cushion if present) (Figure 3 right) and the height of the platform which was initially set based on the unoccupied seat to floor height, we adjusted the platform to match the occupied seat-to-floor height and this new measurement replaced the unoccupied measurement in the data set.  This methodology is based on ANSI/RESNA standards used to measure the wheelchair seat to floor height when conducting standards testing. This approach is also widely promoted in rehabilitation research (A Clinical Application Guide to Standardized Wheelchair Seating Measurements of the Body and Seating Support Surfaces, See References for full guidelines)[9].

Figure 3:  Seat height measurements in an unoccupied (20.5" seat to floor height) and occupied wheelchair (19.5" seat to floor height).