A scoping review of data logger technologies used with manual wheelchairs

Borisoff, Jaimie (Jaimie Borisoff (Jaimie_Borisoff)) (author)
Routhier, François (author)
Lettre, Josiane (author)
Mitchell, Ian M. (author)
Miller, William C. (author)
(editor)
(translator)

Copyright © 2015 RESNA

Proceedings of 2015 RESNA Annual Conference. In recent years, more and more studies are using data logger technologies to document driving and physiological characteristics of manual wheelchair users. However, the technologies used offer marked differences in characteristics such as measured outcomes, ease of use, burden, etc. The objective of this study is to examine the extent of research activity that relied on data logger technologies for manual wheelchair users. We undertook a scoping review of the scientific and gray literature. Five databases were searched from January 1979 to November 2014: Medline, Compendex, CINAHL, EMBASE and Google Scholar. This review retained 104 papers. The selected papers document a wide variety of systems and technologies, measuring a whole range of outcomes. Of all technologies combined, 16.8% were accelerometers installed on the user, 14.8% were magnetic odometers or odometers installed on the wheelchair, 10.2% were accelerometers installed on the wheelchair and 8.67% were heart monitors. So, it is not surprising that the most reported outcomes were distance, speed and acceleration of the wheelchair, and heart rate. In the future, it may be necessary to reach a consensus on what outcomes are important to measure and how. Technological improvements and access to less expensive devices will probably make it possible to easily measure many important outcomes at relatively low cost.

https://www.resna.org/sites/default/files/conference/2015/wheeled_mobili...