Classification of body types of male wheelchair users

The purpose of this study was to analyze the physical characteristic of the wheelchair users by directly measuring the disabled men who use a wheelchair and to classify body types. The subjects were 178 male wheelchair users 20-69 years range of age. The results of this study were as follows. The cause of disability was classified into four groups; Poliomyelitis(P), Spinal Cord Injury(S), Cerebral Palsy(C), Amputee(A). There was a remarkable difference in the physical characteristic of the wheelchair users due to their cause of disability. A have greater values in all the dimensions. P have the largest drop values and smaller values in the lower body dimensions. S have greater values in the height of upper body trunk, back interscye length, and chest circumference, whereas smaller values in waist front length and thigh circumference. C have smaller values in most body dimensions except circumference of lower limb. By the factor analysis on the anthropometric data came out the result to be eight factors. The result of cluster analysis using factor scores shows the body types of wheelchair users can be divided into four body types; PY, RBB, TBP, RA. PY type is short and has the largest drop values, whereas RBB type tends to have the smallest drop values. TBP type is tall and the torso tends to be larger than those of the other types. RA type has smaller values in front body dimensions and moderate values in other dimensions. The diversity in body types should be considered among the wheelchair users.

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