Evaluating the Benefits of Wheelchair Delivery on Mobility, Socioemotional Growth, and Quality of Life on Ugandan Children with Disabilities

Purpose/Hypothesis: The World Health Organization estimates that in high resourced countries there are 30 wheelchairs for every 10,000 people; however, in low resource countries, the figure is reduced to 2-3 per 10,000. Uganda, a low resource country needs an average of 4,464 wheelchairs per district in each of its 127 districts. Ugandan Bureau of Statistics estimates that 7.1% of Ugandans (3.1 million) have disability and 31.4% are 17 years and younger. Twenty-five percent of these children have physical impairments with resultant mobility limitations, which interferes not only with mobility but also socioemotional development and quality of life (QOL). In collaboration with the Ugandan Disabled Persons Union, physical therapy faculty and students from Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) operate the Ugandan Wheelchair Project in Masindi, Uganda for children and adults with disabilities. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effect of delivering a wheelchair on the mobility, socioemotional growth, and QOL in Ugandan children with disabilities.

Number of Subjects: Fourteen children with disabilities between the ages of 7-13 years were provided wheelchairs with data being collected on 10 children.

Materials/Methods: This study involved a sample convenience using a pre- and post- test design. Outcomes measured included the mobility domain of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), the Facial Expression Survey, and specific questions within the Pediatric Quality of Life (PQOL) survey. Paired t-tests analyzed collected project data.

Results: Significant improvements (p-values < 0.05) were documented in the mobility domain of the functional skills and caregiver assistance scales of the PEDI, Facial Expression Survey, and PQOL survey.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that wheelchair delivery for children with disabilities improve mobility, decrease caregiver assistance, and promote socioemotional and QOL growth. Long term outcomes related to wheelchair delivery for Ugandan children with disabilities needs to be examined.

Clinical Relevance: This study reinforces the immediate positive impact that wheelchair delivery and mobility can have on the development of children with disabilities. Pediatric physical therapists have the expertise and should be encouraged to advocate and influence global wheelchair delivery- children with disabilities around the globe should have the access to wheelchairs in order to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life.