Link to the University of Pittsburgh Homepage
Link to the University Library System Homepage Link to the Contact Us Form
D-Scholarship @ Pitt Banner and Links to Homepage

Virtual electric power wheelchair driving performance of individuals with spastic cerebral palsy

Dicianno, BE and Mahajan, H and Guirand, AS and Cooper, RA (2012) Virtual electric power wheelchair driving performance of individuals with spastic cerebral palsy. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 91 (10). 823 - 830. ISSN 0894-9115

[img] Plain Text (licence)
Available under License : See the attached license file.
Download (1kB)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Upper limb spasticity may impair the use of control interfaces such as joysticks for many individuals with disabilities such as cerebral palsy (CP). The aims of this study were to compare the driving performance of those with CP to that of control participants, to identify the impact of lead time on performance, and to compare two joystick designs, a standard movement sensing joystick and a novel isometric joystick. DESIGN: This study used a repeated-measures design to compare the performance of a group of participants with CP to that of participants without disabilities in a two-dimensional simulated driving task on a computer screen using the two control interfaces. The driving trials used varying "lead times," or the amount of warning time available to make movement decisions and turns. A total of 34 participants with CP and without disability were matched by age and sex into two groups. RESULTS: Participants with CP had lower driving performance in most variables of interest compared with controls. However, surprisingly, reducing lead time also reduced some performance errors, possibly because of more deliberate driving. The isometric joystick outperformed the movement sensing joystick in terms of performance errors but contributed to a prolonged reaction time. CONCLUSIONS: The isometric joystick was preferred by participants over the movement sensing joystick in this study and may be a future alternative for individuals with CP for both power mobility and computer access tasks. Copyright © 2012 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Share

Citation/Export:
Social Networking:
Share |

Details

Item Type: Article
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Dicianno, BEdicianno@pitt.eduDICIANNO0000-0003-0738-0192
Mahajan, H
Guirand, AS
Cooper, RARCOOPER@pitt.eduRCOOPER
Centers: Other Centers, Institutes, Offices, or Units > Human Engineering Research Laboratories
Date: 1 October 2012
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume: 91
Number: 10
Page Range: 823 - 830
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1097/phm.0b013e31825a1497
Schools and Programs: School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences > Rehabilitation Science and Technology
Refereed: Yes
ISSN: 0894-9115
PubMed ID: 22660370
Date Deposited: 12 Oct 2012 18:26
Last Modified: 05 Feb 2019 00:55
URI: http://d-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15685

Metrics

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Altmetric.com

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item