A comparative sudy of two pressure relieving techniques on three different wheelchair cushions

Abstract

Introduction: Pressure relief done by a spinal cordinjured patient is of utmost importance in order to prevent pressuresore formation. Some pressure-relieving techniques are describedin previous literature, but their effectivity has not yet been deter-mined on different wheelchair cushions.Null Hypothesis (H0): The null hypothesis (H0) stated for thistudy is that there is no difference in the effectivity of forwardleaning and forward leaning towards the left as pressure relievingtechniques for quadriplegic wheelchair users over the differenwheelchair cushions.Design: An analytical experimental study design using a convenient sample group of ten complete lesion quadriplegics (C6 to T1) was performed at the Physiotherapy Department,University of Pretoria.Method: Interface pressure (in mmHg) over the ischial tuberosities and upper thigh areas was measured using theTalley Oxford Pressure Monitor MKII with a 12-way matrix cell system.Results and Conclusion: The Friedman test for associated observations indicated statistically that the leaning  diagonally forward pressure relieving technique is more effective for all three wheelchair cushions used in this study.