Evaluation of a curb-climbing aid for manual wheelchairs: considerations of stability, effort, and safety.

The experimental and theoretical procedures used to gather ergonomic data and derive theoretical estimates of stability, effort, and safety in use of a curb-climbing aid for standard manual wheelchairs are presented. The aid, intended for use of paraplegic persons, employs ramps which the user while seated in the chair can deploy and retrieve using attached telescoping rods. Ramps and rods may be carried in a ready-for-use position or stowed away in a bag hung behind the wheelchair backrest. Design, construction and method of use were described in White RN, Szeto AYJ, and Hogan HA: A practical curb-climbing aid for wheelchair-bound paraplegic patients (a progress report) Bull Prosth Res BPR 10-34 17(2):13-19 Fall 1980.