Manual Wheelchair Propulsion Over Cross-Sloped Surfaces: A Literature Review

Abstract

Manual wheelchair propulsion may be facilitated or impeded depending upon the surface and the environment. One barrier may be the cross-slope of pathways. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to determine the quality of the evidence on the effects of cross-slopes on manual wheelchair propulsion. The goal was to identify and to understand the optimal design for cross-slopes that have the least negative impact for wheelchair users. Fifty-two articles were reviewed by 15 expert reviewers. Six were identified to be relevant to propulsion over cross-slopes. Most studies agree that traversing a cross-slope in a manual wheelchair is more difficult than propelling on a level surface. However, agreement has not been reached as to the percentage increase in effort or the optimal degree of cross-slopes that should be used as an acceptable standard. There is a paucity of research investigating the impact of cross-slopes on wheelchair mobility and community participation.

Test Bench for Analysis of Harmful Vibrations Induced to Wheelchair Users

“…The lateral vibration noted L.V. corresponding to a roll, may be due to veiled wheels, to the passage of a single wheel above a small drop, or uneven road surfaces (Cooper et al, 2011). The fore-and-aft vibration noted F.V.…”

Disabled-by-design: effects of inaccessible urban public spaces on users of mobility assistive devices – a systematic review

“…Several reviews have recently explored the level of physical accessibility of public spaces for MobAD users [32,33]; the impact of inaccessible public spaces on MobAD users [34,35]; or both topics [36,37]. However, most of these attempts solely focused on individual types of public spaces -such as transportation facilities [32], public buildings [33], and natural open spaces [34] -or even special features of the micro-environment of public spaces, e.g., sidewalk cross-slopes [35]. Other reviews were not characterised by a systematic methodological approach [33,36].…”

Human Centric Accessibility Graph For Environment Analysis

“…A person walks perpendicular to the incline, forcing the body to adjust side to side. [12,7,60] Staggered Stairs and other flat surfaces that are offset and have a change in level, such as bricks that are protruding directly up in various heights (but not at an angle) or the offset of a curb to the sidewalk. [56,55,81,31] Uneven Variations in curvature of the ground surface (Fig.…”