Study design: Cross-sectional study. Objectives: To validate heart rate (HR) indexes for the evaluation of energy expenditure during wheelchair propulsion in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: SARAH Rehabilitation Hospital Network-Brasilia, Brazil. Methods: Forty-eight men aged 29.0 ± 7.8 years with a SCI between C6 and L3 causing complete motor impairment were enrolled in the study. The assessment consisted of 5 min of rest while seated in the wheelchair, followed by 5 min of wheelchair propulsion at a self-selected comfortable speed. The main outcomes measured were oxygen consumption, HR, physiological cost index (PCI), total heart beat index (THBI) and propulsion cardiac cost index (PCCI). Results: Using oxygen uptake as gold standard, the highest correlations were found between this and PCCI (r ¼ 0.59, Po0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36-0.75) and THBI (r ¼ 0.58, Po0.001, 95% CI 0.36-74.0), independently of the injury level. The PCI had the lowest correlation coefficient (r ¼ 0.38, Po0.01, 95% CI 0.11-0.60). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the indexes mostly associated with lesion level were PCCI (r ¼ À0.531; Po0.001; 95% CI À0.708 to À0.291) and THBI (r ¼ À0.524; Po0.001; 95% CI À0.704 to À0.282). Conclusions: Both THBI and PCCI seem to be valid measures for assessing energy expenditure. Both indexes showed a coherent correlation with the spinal injury level.