Baseline Error Performance and Reliability of a Wheelchair Balance Task in Para Sport Athletes

Background/Objectives: Healthcare professionals have begun utilizing a wheelie task for balance assessment in para sport athletes. With recent advancements to incorporate dual-task exercises, the purpose of this study was to evaluate baseline wheelie performance during single and dual-task and measure 1-week and 45-day reliability in a sample of collegiate para sport athletes. Methods: Twenty-five (male n = 14, 56.0%) collegiate para sport athletes completed a wheelie assessment under single and dual-task conditions. Measures consisted of standardized biomechanical errors (e.g., front wheels touching ground, changing grip on wheel) as scored by a single clinician during eyes-open and eyes-closed positions. Assessments were repeated 7 ± 2 days and 45 ± 7 days later. Results: At baseline, there were no differences with dual-task exercise during eyes-open wheelie balancing (p = 0.096). No differences were observed from single to dual-task in the eyes-closed position (p = 0.154) at baseline, but there were significantly more errors during this position at both the 1-week (p = 0.005) and 45-day (p = 0.004) retest intervals. Fair to moderate correlations existed for both eyes-open and eyes-closed positions during single and dual task across 1-week (rs ≥ 0.49) and 45-day (rs ≥ 0.40) retest intervals. Conclusions: The incorporation of dual-task exercises during the eyes-closed wheelie position appears to increase the difficulty of balance compared to single-task, possibly making it a useful assessment to evaluate balance in para-athletes. There is fair to moderate correlation of the wheelie during single and dual tasks over time. Future research is needed on dual-task compensation post-injury.