Person:
Sprigle, Stephen

ORCID
0000-0003-0462-0138
ArchiveSpace Name Record

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 14
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    Mobility Metrics for Manual Wheelchair Use in Everyday Life
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-06) Lopez, Ricardo A. ; Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen
    In this study, a method for the robust detection of manual wheelchair movement with accelerometer-based data logging is used to obtain metrics of wheelchair mobility that complement mean- and total-distance-only based measurements. It is found that these metrics, that include distance, time and number of activity bouts, provide better understanding of everyday use of manual wheelchairs by shedding more light into how users operate their wheelchairs in their daily lives.
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    Blood Flow and Pressure Changes That Occur With Tilt-in-Space
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-06) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen
    The objective of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical responses to tilt in persons with SCI. Changes in blood flow and loading at the ischial tuberosities (ITs) across different amounts of tilt were measured with Laser Doppler flowmetry and interface pressure. Pressure reduction at the IT was not present at 15°, but did occur with tilts to 30° and greater. Unlike pressure, blood flow increased with all tilts from an upright position. Only 4 of 11 participants had a considerable increase (≥10%) in blood flow at 30° tilt, whereas 9 participants did during maximum tilt (i.e., 45°-60°). Based on the results of this study, tilting for pressure reliefs as far as the seating system permits is recommended to maximize the potential for significant blood flow increases and pressure relief. The use of interim small tilts is also supported, as they also provide some benefit.
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    A Data Processing Method to Measure the Use of Manual Wheelchairs
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Caspall, Jayme ; Lopez, Ricardo ; Sprigle, Stephen
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    Blood Flow and Pressure Changes That Occur With Tilt-in-space
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen
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    Understanding Wheelchair Use Patterns: Tilt-in-Space
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-03) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen ; Harris, Frances ; Maurer, Chris
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    Characterization of Power Wheelchair Use in the Home and Community
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen ; Harris, Frances ; Maurer, Christine L.
    Objective: To characterize the use of power wheelchairs and to determine if multiple measures of mobility and occupancy jointly provide a more comprehensive picture of wheelchair usage and daily activity in full-time power wheelchair users than daily distance alone. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Subjects’ everyday mobility was measured in their homes and communities for two weeks and prompted recall interviews were conducted by phone. Participants: A convenience sample of 25 non-ambulatory, full-time power wheelchair users. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Wheelchair usage was logged electronically and GPS / interview data were used to isolate chair use to home, indoors but not at home and outdoor environments. Distance wheeled, time spent wheeling, number of bouts, time spent in the wheelchair and the percent of time in the wheelchair spent wheeling were measured to describe wheelchair use. Results: The median wheelchair user spent 10.6 hours (5.0-16.6) in his/her wheelchair daily and wheeled 1.085 km (0.238-10.585) over 58 minutes (16-173) and 110 bouts (36-282). Wheelchair use varied across subjects, within subjects from day-to-day, and between environments. Mobility bouts outdoors were longer and faster than those wheeled indoors. In a regression analysis, distance wheeled explained only 33% of the variation in the number of bouts and 75% in the time spent wheeling. Conclusions: Power wheelchair use varies widely both within and between individuals. Measuring distance, time and number of bouts provides a clearer picture of mobility patterns than measuring distance alone, while occupancy helps to measure wheelchair function in daily activities.
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    Impact of Tilt-in-Space Power Wheelchairs on Health, Activity, and Participation
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008) Harris, Frances ; Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen ; Maurer, Christine L.
    This paper reports the results of a pre-post outcomes study on the impact of tilt-in-space power wheelchairs on the health, activity, and participation of 5 subjects. Using a methodology which combines traditional self-reports and activity monitoring technology, subjects who had previously used an upright power wheelchair were monitored at baseline and 3 months following receipt of a new tilt-in-space power wheelchair. Subjects visited similar numbers of destinations pre and post. However, wheelchair use metrics - including occupancy time, distance wheeled, and number of bouts - varied pre and post, without a consistent direction of change. Quality of life measured as self-perceived health status increased in all subjects. Although subject population is too small to generalize results, this study illustrates the complexity of participation measurement and the utility of this methodology to provide insights into the relationship between wheelchair use and activity and participation.
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    A Case Study Comparing Activity and Participation Measurement in Two Subjects
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007) Harris, Frances ; Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen
    This case study compares the differences between complementary methodologies that measure activity and participation in two subjects who use wheeled mobility devices. Data collection consisted of 1) a self-report participation measure for people with mobility disabilities - the Community Participation and Perceived Receptivity Survey (CPPRS) - and 2) a passive instrumentation data-gathering methodology that includes a global positioning system (GPS) data logger, followed by a prompted recall interview (PRI) to confirm GPS data location and query activity purpose. Many of the destination types (e.g., grocery stores) named in the CPPRS were confirmed by GPS/PRI data. Issues affecting subject responses in both methods included ambiguous categories and researcher assumptions about the nature of activity. Differences between self-report and instrumentation data are discussed as they impact understanding activity and community participation among wheeled mobility users and the development of self-report participation instruments.
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    Mobility Patterns in Power Wheelchair Users and the Implications for Measuring Mobility
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen ; Maurer, Chris
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    Monitoring Power Upright and Tilt-In-Space Wheelchair Use
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006) Sonenblum, Sharon Eve ; Sprigle, Stephen ; Maurer, Chris
    This study examines the use of power upright and power tilt-in-space (TIS) wheelchairs. An occupancy detector, wheel revolution counter, and position sensor comprise the Wheelchair Activity Monitoring Instrument as used in this study. On average, subjects sat in their wheelchairs for 10 hours per day, spent 50 (±24) minutes wheeling with an average daily distance traveled of 0.84 miles. The majority of mobility bouts were less than 30 seconds and shorter than 25 feet. Subjects with TIS used their tilt feature (at least a 15° change in position) 16±10 times and spent between 0 and 108 minutes at a fully tilted (>40°) position daily.occupancy detector, wheel revolution counter, and position sensor comprise the Wheelchair Activity Monitoring Instrument as used in this study. On average, subjects sat in their wheelchairs for 10 hours per day, spent 50 (±24) minutes wheeling with an average daily distance traveled of 0.84 miles. The majority of mobility bouts were less than 30 seconds and shorter than 25 feet. Subjects with TIS used their tilt feature (at least a 15° change in position) 16±10 times and spent between 0 and 108 minutes at a fully tilted (>40°) position daily.