• Kerri A Morgan, Kelly L Taylor, Susan M Tucker, W Todd Cade, and Joseph W Klaesner.
• a Program in Occupational Therapy , Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis , Missouri , USA.
• J Spinal Cord Med. 2019 May 1; 42 (3): 288-297.

ObjectiveDetermine the validity and reliability of an exercise testing protocol to evaluate cardiorespiratory measures in manual wheelchair users (MWUs) with spinal cord injury (SCI) using a roller-based (RS) wheelchair system.DesignRepeated measures within-subject design.SettingCommunity-based research laboratory.ParticipantsTen adults with SCI requiring the use of a manual wheelchair.InterventionsNot applicable.Outcome MeasuresCardiorespiratory measures (peak oxygen consumption [VO2peak], respiratory exchange ratio [RER], pulmonary ventilation [VE], energy expenditure [EE], heart rate [HR], accumulated kilocalories [AcKcal]) and perceived exertion (RPE) were measured during three separate maximal exercise tests using an arm crank ergometer (ACE) and an RS.ResultsAt maximal exertion, there were no significant differences in variables between groups, with moderate-to-strong correlations (P < 0.05, r = 0.79-0.90) for VO2, HR, RPE, AcKcal, and rate of EE between RS and ACE trials. Significant moderate-to-strong correlations existed between RS trials for VO2, AcKcal, rate of EE, and peak power output (P < 0.01, r = 0.77-0.97).ConclusionsVO2peak was highly correlated between ACE and RS trials and between the two RS trials, indicating the RS protocol to be reliable and valid for MWUs with SCI. Differences in perceived exertion and efficiency at submaximal workloads and maximal pulmonary ventilation at peak workloads indicated potential advantages to using the RS.

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