Performance evaluation of lower extremity disabled people with reference to hand-cranked tricycle propulsion.

A study was designed to evaluate physiological cost and work performance of lower extremity disabled people with reference to hand-cranked tricycle propulsion. Eleven volunteers took part in this study. For an average body weight of 39.7 kg, VO2 max (arm cranking) was only 0.777 l/min at STPD. The pulmonary demand and oxygen uptake of the disabled subjects during tricycle propulsion at 8.45 +/- 0.6 km/h corresponded to about 70% of their maximal response; hence, work stress was categorised as heavy. Mechanical efficiency of cranking was best when a hand-rim propulsion system was arranged for two-arm cranking at the heart level of the disabled person and at a cranking pace of 60 rev/min.