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Diabetic Neuropathy
Published in Jahangir Moini, Matthew Adams, Anthony LoGalbo, Complications of Diabetes Mellitus, 2022
Jahangir Moini, Matthew Adams, Anthony LoGalbo
Signs and symptoms of diabetic amyotrophy include weakness in the buttocks, hips, and legs as well as muscle wasting within weeks of onset – usually in the front of the thighs. Pain is sometimes severe and can even affect the back. Some patients have altered sensation and tingling, which is usually less severe than the weakness and pain. Distal neuropathy is present in about 50% of patients with this condition, and there is concurrent weight loss. The two sides of the body are usually not affected equally. The condition can become severe enough to cause the patient to require a wheelchair. Some patients do not fully recover, and mild or moderate weakness may continue throughout life. Some patients may develop pain or weakness in the upper back, chest, and arms.
Care
Published in Henry J. Woodford, Essential Geriatrics, 2022
Wheelchairs come in a wide variety according to their planned usage. Factors that need to be considered include indoor, outdoor or mixed use, and self-propelled, pushed or motorised. A folding chair may be necessary for transportation in a car. Chairs with removable armrests allow sideways transfers. Cushioning and support can usually be tailored to the individual person.
Occupational Therapy in an independent vocational service
Published in Sue Parkinson, Rob Brooks, A Guide to the Formulation of Plans and Goals in Occupational Therapy, 2020
At work, he is able to attend to his continence needs, and has been using a walking stick in the open-plan office. He usually manages to walk around at a slow pace but has experienced several trips and falls while at work, and his manager is concerned about how he would exit the building in an emergency as the office is a long way from the exit. A wheelchair has been provided by the company to be used if needed.
A descriptive analysis of wheelchair repair registry data
Published in Assistive Technology, 2023
Alexandria M. James, Gede Pramana, Richard M. Schein, Anand Mhatre, Jonathan Pearlman, Matthew Macpherson, Mark R. Schmeler
This report indicates that Group 2 and Group 3 power wheelchairs require repairs the most. This was likely due to the fact that power wheelchairs are equipped with more components (see, Table 2). Other studies have also reported higher number of repairs in power wheelchairs (Henderson et al., 2020; McClure et al., 2009; Toro et al., 2016; Worobey et al., 2012). All devices experienced about 3% increase in repairs every year since purchased, which suggests that they had routine maintenance conducted at some point. The analysis also provides insight to what repairs are needed, and the instances of repairs. Specifically for power wheelchairs the top three service requests included batteries/cables, electronics & related, and wheels/tires. Similar to Henderson et al. (2020) which found that the electrical system had the highest percentage of total repairs leading to adverse consequences, of the 12 repair wheelchair categories in this study, batteries/cables and electronics were the top two in terms of total number of repairs. The prevalence of electrical componentry in power wheelchairs may be contributing to the fact that various power wheelchair groups required certain types of repairs than others. Lastly, the most common types of repairs needed, regardless of type of wheelchair included: wheels/tires, positioning supports (i.e., armrests, backs, and legrests) batteries, and electronics, similar to what was reported by Toro et al. (2016). It is important to note that the data gathered in real-time from suppliers was similar from previous studies either in the laboratory or survey-based recall.
Effects of simulated aging on cushion performance measured using standardized laboratory test methods
Published in Assistive Technology, 2023
Patricia Karg, David Brienza, Alexandra Delazio, Lauren Terhorst, Clair Smith
Selecting the right wheelchair seat cushion is paramount to optimizing health and function for those who use a wheelchair as their primary mobility. There are many models of cushions constructed from a variety of materials including foam, viscous fluids, gels, and air cells. Objective information on performance may inform cushion selection to better meet individual needs by providing a basis for comparison between various cushion models. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a non-governmental international organization that develops voluntary consensus standards for seat cushions (ISO 16840), which define performance tests used to characterize cushion properties and methods for simulating cushion aging. The Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) published a national adoption of these standards in 2018 (RESNA, 2018). Previous studies have applied several of the standardized methods to assess commercial cushions, including load deflection and hysteresis (Hillman et al., 2018; Hollington et al., 2014), impact damping (Ferguson-Pell et al., 2015; Hillman et al., 2018; Sprigle et al., 2010), horizontal stiffness (Akins et al., 2011) and loaded contour depth and overload deflection (Sprigle & Press, 2001).
“Unknown world of wheelchairs” A mixed methods study exploring experiences of wheelchair and seating assistive technology provision for people with spinal cord injury in an Irish context
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2022
Andrea Gallagher, Geraldine Cleary, Amanda Clifford, Jennifer McKee, Kellie O’Farrell, Rosemary J. Gowran
From a rights perspective, wheelchairs are essential in the promotion of a person’s autonomy, freedom, dignity, participation, and inclusion [22]. According to the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” appropriate provision of assistive technology is required for wheelchair users to ensure equal and full enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and human rights such as personal mobility and greatest possible independence [23]. Access to appropriate resources is based on environmental facilitators and barriers including attitudes, relationships, community inclusion, and adequate service provision [3]. Increasing access to assistive technology for everyone is a stepping stone towards meeting the United Nation’s [24] sustainable development goals, with particular focus on goal three, to promote wellbeing and ensure healthy lives for all. Many countries provide services based on generic assistive technology policies [22,25,26], including Ireland, which has no wheelchair and seating specific provision policy but rather embeds service delivery within aids and appliances funding management [27,28].