Research Article  |   September 2015
Autonomy and Housing Accessibility Among Powered Mobility Device Users
Cecilia Pettersson; Åse Brandt; Eva Månsson Lexell; Susanne Iwarsson
Author Affiliations
  • Cecilia Pettersson, PhD, OT (Reg.), is Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; cecilia.pettersson@med.lu.se
  • Åse Brandt, PhD, OT (Reg.), is Senior Researcher, Office of Disability and Technology, The National Board of Social Services, Odense, Denmark, and Associate Professor, Research Unit of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense
  • Eva Månsson Lexell, PhD, OT (Reg.), is Associate Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, and Occupational Therapist, Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Skåne University Hospital, Lund-Malmö, Sweden
  • Susanne Iwarsson, PhD, OT (Reg.), is Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Article Information
Assistive Technology / Neurologic Conditions / Spinal Cord Injury / Rehabilitation, Disability, and Participation
Research Article   |   September 2015
Autonomy and Housing Accessibility Among Powered Mobility Device Users
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, September 2015, Vol. 69, 6905290030p1-6905290030p9. doi:10.5014/ajot.2015.015347
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, September 2015, Vol. 69, 6905290030p1-6905290030p9. doi:10.5014/ajot.2015.015347
Abstract

OBJECTIVE. To describe environmental barriers, accessibility problems, and powered mobility device (PMD) users’ autonomy indoors and outdoors; to determine the home environmental barriers that generated the most housing accessibility problems indoors, at entrances, and in the close exterior surroundings; and to examine personal factors and environmental components and their association with indoor and outdoor autonomy.

METHOD. This cross-sectional study was based on data collected from a sample of 48 PMD users with a spinal cord injury (SCI) using the Impact of Participation and Autonomy and the Housing Enabler instruments. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used.

RESULTS. More years living with SCI predicted less restriction in autonomy indoors, whereas more functional limitations and accessibility problems related to entrance doors predicted more restriction in autonomy outdoors.

CONCLUSION. To enable optimized PMD use, practitioners must pay attention to the relationship between client autonomy and housing accessibility problems.