Background. Exoskeletons are used in rehabilitation centers for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) due to the potential benefits they offer for locomotor rehabilitation. The acceptability of exoskeletons is crucial to promote rehabilitation and to ensure a successful implementation of this technology. The objective was to explore the acceptability of overground wearable powered exoskeleton used in rehabilitation among people with SCI. Methods. Fourteen individuals with SCI (9 men, mean age 47 years [14,8], majority with traumatic and thoracic lesion (T6-T12)) who had utilized an exoskeleton in Canada or in France during their rehabilitation participated in a semi-structured interview. A thematic analysis using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability was carried out. Results. Participants were motivated to use an exoskeleton during their rehabilitation. They reported several perceived benefits to its use, including better walking pattern, increased endurance and greater muscle mass. They also experienced mild pain, notable concentration demands and fatigue. Most participants reported that using exoskeletons in their rehabilitation process was appropriate and relevant to them. Conclusions. Exoskeletons are generally well accepted by participants in this study. Adjustments in their use, such as conducting training sessions in obstacle-free environment and technological improvements to address the device's restrictive characteristics, heaviness, and massiveness are however still needed.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This work was partially carried out within the Handicap Innovation Territoire project, supported by the French Government as part of France 2030 - Territoires d'innovation program for innovative territories and received funding from the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute (#G2020-33) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (#892-2021-2033). N.F-B was supported through a scholarship from the Reseau provincial de recherche en adaptation-readaptation (REPAR) and hold a master training award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and from the Quebec Health Research Funds (FRQS) (#311138) in partnership with the Unite de soutien au systeme de sante apprenant (SSA) Quebec. Salary supports for F.R were provided by the Quebec Health Research Funds (FRQS) Senior Research Scholar program.

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Research Ethics Boards from the Universite de Lille (2023-701-S117) and from the Centre integre universitaire de sante et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (MP-13-2020-2002) gave ethical approval for this work.

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