Article

PURPOSE: To describe patterns of prosthesis wear and perceived prosthetic
usefulness in adult acquired upper-limb amputees (ULAs).
To describe prosthetic
skills in activities of daily life (ADL) and the actual use of prostheses in the
performance of ADL tasks.
To estimate the influence of prosthetic skills on
actual prosthesis use and the influence of background factors on prosthetic
skills and actual prosthesis use. METHOD: Cross-sectional study analysing
population-based questionnaire data (n = 224) and data from interviews and
clinical testing in a referred/convenience sample of prosthesis-wearing ULAs (n =
50). Effects were analysed using linear regression. RESULTS: 80.8% wore
prostheses. 90.3% reported their most worn prosthesis as useful. Prosthetic
usefulness profiles varied with prosthetic type. Despite demonstrating good
prosthetic skills, the amputees reported actual prosthesis use in only about half
of the ADL tasks performed in everyday life. In unilateral amputees, increased
actual use was associated with sufficient prosthetic training and with the use of
myoelectric vs cosmetic prostheses, regardless of amputation level. Prosthetic
skills did not affect actual prosthesis use. No background factors showed
significant effect on prosthetic skills. CONCLUSIONS:
Most major ULAs wear
prostheses. Individualised prosthetic training and fitting of myoelectric rather than passive prostheses may increase actual prosthesis use in ADL.

Langue : ANGLAIS