Yoshikazu Hideshima, PSE, Toyoko Asami, Prof, PhD, Masayoshi Ichiba, Prof, PhD, Kiyomi Matsuo, PSE, Tomoyuki Murata, PhD
Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 15: 8-16, 2024
Purpose: We examined whether operation training for
children with severe mental and physical disabilities
using recently developed electric mobility aids
improves their skills in operating such aids and their
daily activities. By doing so, we aimed to clarify the
effectiveness of electric mobility aid operation training
for children with severe mental and physical
disabilities.
Method: Operation training and normal training using
an electric mobility aid were conducted for 42 schoolaged
children with severe mental and physical
disabilities, aged 8-18 years old. The trainee children
were randomly assigned to two groups: 21 to the
intervention group to receive operation training and 21
to the control group to receive general training. The
intervention lasted 20 minutes/training session, with
three sessions/week over a period of eight weeks. The
Powered Mobility Program (PMP) and Pediatric
Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) were used
for pre- and post-intervention assessments, and SPSS
was used for two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Results: PMP scaled scores significantly increased (p
= 0.001) in both groups, but there was no interaction
effect. The PEDI scaled scores did not significantly
increase in either of the two groups.
Discussion: The effects of the intervention and use of
the electric mobility aid on the operating skills of
children with severe mental and physical disabilities
were explicitly demonstrated. Future long-term studies
are required to clarify the effects of training in the
operation of electric mobility aids on the subsequent
development of severely physically and mentally
handicapped children.
Key words: severely physically and mentally handicapped children, assistive technology, electric mobility aid, PEDI, PMP