A Case Study on User Research for Manual Wheelchair Use of People with Spinal Cord Injuries

Effectiveness of Exercise Programs for Alleviation of Upper Body Pain in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

“…Both the original WUSPI and the Korean version consist of 15 items, categorized into mobility-related items such as “moving from bed to wheelchair” and “pushing a wheelchair for more than 10 min” and daily activity-related items such as “putting on pants” and “washing the back”. According to Park and Cho [ 44 ], 570,462 people with physical disabilities, including those with SCI, are economically active (48.0%), with an employment rate of 46.2%. Despite the active participation of almost half of these individuals in social and economic activities, the WUSPI only contains one item for this: “activities at work/school”; this indicates a gap in identifying and measuring the pain wheelchair users might experience in social and economic contexts.…”

“…A user survey was conducted on the perceived need and satisfaction with manual wheelchairs among three patients with varying degrees of SCI who are representative of the SCI population [ 43 ]. In addition, a study in Korea proposed that the standard wheelchair design is ergonomically appropriate for the body figures of Koreans by measuring the specifications of wheelchairs marketed in Korea and comparing them with anthropometric measurements [ 44 ]. However, these were standard specifications obtained from patients with temporary disabilities and may be inappropriate for patients with SCI who must use wheelchairs for prolonged periods and durations.…”