Article

Quality of life (QoL) is increasingly being recognized as an
important outcome for rehabilitation programs, and has mainly been used to
compare the efficacy of interventions or to compare amputees with other diseased
populations. There is relatively a limited number of studies primarily focusing
on analyzing the multitude of factors influencing QoL in amputees. Objectives: To
identify important background and amputation related factors which affect quality
of life (QoL) in lower limb amputees, and to compare QoL profile of amputees' to
that of general population. Study design: Cross-sectional. Methods: Lower limb
amputees 18 years and above from a rehabilitation centre, a limb-fitting centre
and four limb-fitting camps were interviewed (n = 605). Structured questionnaires
included patient background and amputation characteristics, and the MOS
short-form health survey (SF-36) for assessing QoL. The SF-36 was administered to
a general adult population using purposive sampling (n = 184). Results: SF-36 PCS
and MCS scores were found to be significantly lower for amputees when compared to
those for the general population. In this study, employment status, use of an
assistive device, use of a prosthesis, comorbidities, phantom-limb pain and
residual stump pain were found to predict both PCS and MCS scores significantly,
and explained 47.8% and 29.7% of variance respectively. Age and time since
amputation accounted for an additional 3% of variance in PCS scores. Conclusions:
The abovementioned factors should be addressed in order to ensure holistic
reintegration and participation, and to enable the amputees to regain or maintain
QoL. Prospective longitudinal studies are recommended to systematically study the
change in QoL over time and to assess its determinants. Clinical relevance Proper
appraisal of abovementioned factors in the rehabilitation programme would assist
in establishing a treatment protocol, which would adequately address QoL in
amputees.

Langue : ANGLAIS