Article

OBJECTIVE: To assess fall-related injury risk and risk factors in people with
lower limb amputation. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal cohort with follow-up
every 6 months for up to 41 months. SUBJECTS: Community-dwelling adults with
lower limb amputations of any etiology and level recruited from support groups
and prosthetic clinics. METHODS: Demographic and clinical characteristics were
obtained by self-reported questionnaire and telephone or in-person follow-up.
Fall-related injury incidence requiring medical care per person-month and
adjusted hazard ratio of fall-related injury were calculated using multivariable
proportional hazards regression modeling. RESULTS:
A total of 41 subjects, with
782 follow-up person-months in total, had 11 fall-related injury incidents
(14.1/1,000 person-months). During follow-up, 56.1% of subjects reported falling
and 26.8% reported fall-related injury. Multivariable proportional hazard
modeling showed that women were nearly 6 times more likely as men to experience
fall-related injury and people of non-white race were 13 times more likely than
people of white race to experience fall-related injury.
The final predictive
model also included vascular amputation and age. CONCLUSION: Risk of fall-related
injury requiring medical care in people with lower limb amputation appears to be
higher than in older adult inpatients. Intervention programs to prevent
fall-related injury in people with lower limb amputation should target women and
racial minorities.

Langue : ANGLAIS