Comparisons of Agricultural Seating for Paraplegia.

Abstract

People with spinal cord injury/paraplegia are operating agricultural machinery despite the lack of research evidence to support seating interventions. These operators represent a vulnerable population in the agricultural workforce, and information to support their health in the workplace is urgently warranted. This research compared a group of subjects with paraplegia on different intervention cushion conditions during a simulated tractor driving task. Numerical data acquired from a pressure-mapping instrument were explored for statistical relationships within a small cohort of people with paraplegia participating in a feasibility study that was previously reported for clinical results. Relationships reaching statistical significance were found to support the primary hypothesis, while other hypotheses did not reach the threshold of significance. The primary hypothesis, that a contour tractor seat intervention condition would be inferior to other intervention conditions, was supported. For this cohort of heterogeneous users with paraplegia, a contour tractor seat of foam and cloth fabric manufacture was not an appropriate intervention selection versus other aftermarket wheelchair cushions.