Objective: To determine the effects of tilt-in-space seating on outcomes for people
with neurological or neuromuscular impairment who cannot walk.
Data sources: Search through electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, AMED).
Discussions with researchers who are active in field.
Review methods: Selection criteria included interventional studies that investigated
the effects of seat tilt on outcome or observational studies that identified outcomes
for those who had used tilt-in-space seating in populations with neurological or
neuromuscular impairments. Two reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion,
assessed quality and extracted data.
Results: Nineteen studies were identified which fulfilled the selection criteria.
Seventeen of these were essentially before—after studies investigating the immediate
effects of tilting the seating. All studies looked at populations with neurological
impairment, and most were on children with cerebral palsy (n = 8) or adults with
spinal cord injury (n = 8).
Reviewer's conclusion: Posterior tilt can reduce pressures at the interface under the
pelvis.
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