Measuring energy expenditure using heart rate to assess the effects of wheelchair tyre pressure

Abstract

Tyre pressures below 50% inflation add an additional 25% increase in energy expenditure during wheeling. This could be detected using oxygen consumption or heart rate, as heart rate was shown to have a good correlation with oxygen consumption in the spinal cord injured with lesions below T5. Heart rate does have its limitations and it should only be used to measure within-subject differences.