The aim of this study was to describe characteristics of persons with stroke using an outdoor powered wheelchair and to evaluate the impact of the wheelchair on quality of life. The 32 participants with stroke were recruited consecutively from three county council areas in Sweden. A follow-up design was applied including the EuroQol-5D questionnaires at baseline before the persons were prescribed an outdoor powered wheelchair and data after 3-5 months of using it was collected by means of the EuroQol-5D and the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS). The results indicated an improved quality of life in respect of the items: competence, independence, capability, quality of life, well-being, happiness, and self-esteem on PIADS. The Usual activity dimension in EuroQol-5D showed a significant improvement after wheelchair use. The conclusion is that the powered wheelchair mostly has a positive impact on the quality of life of users with stroke.
PIADS, EQ-5D, powered wheelchair, evaluation, stroke, quality of life
This study was supported by grants from the Johanniterorden and the Department of health Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden.
Ingvor Pettersson
Department of Health Sciences
Örebro University
SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden
Phone: +46 19 30 37 46
Fax: +46 19 30 36 01
E-mail: ingvor.pettersson@hi.oru.se
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