• Lauren Kark and Anne Simmons.
• Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
• Prosthet Orthot Int. 2011 Jun 1;35(2):225-33.

BackgroundPatient satisfaction is an important measurement in healthcare for administrators, clinicians and patients.ObjectivesThis study investigated the role of gait deviation in patient satisfaction following lower-limb amputation and prosthesis prescription.Study DesignA cross-sectional study was done.MethodsTwenty community-based unilateral lower-limb amputees, 12 transtibial and 8 transfemoral, were recruited from support groups. Participants completed the prosthesis evaluation questionnaire (PEQ) with embedded satisfaction-related questions, the timed-up-and-go test and the six-minute walk test, and also underwent quantitative three-dimensional analysis. Kinematic deviation was summarized using the gait profile score (GPS).ResultsSatisfaction levels were generally high (median 80 + /100). Sociodemographic variables did not correlate significantly with any of the satisfaction measures (-0.35 ≤ r ≤ 0.54). Satisfaction correlated strongly with the PEQ scales, particularly ambulation, prosthetic utility, frustration, perceived response and social burden (r ≥ 0.70). By contrast, the relationships between satisfaction and performance-based outcome measures were not significant (-0.45 ≤ r ≤ 0.43), and the GPS did not correlate with any satisfaction measures (-0.23 ≤ r ≤ 0.15).ConclusionsIn this study of high functioning amputees, gait deviation was unimportant to the amputee, while self-reported functional ability and attitudes toward the prosthesis were the strongest correlates of satisfaction following lower-limb amputation.Clinical RelevanceFor the high functioning individuals with lower-limb amputation in this study, gait deviation was not a significant correlate of patient satisfaction. RESULTS suggest that improving self-perceived functional ability and attitudes toward the prosthesis, rather than minimizing gait deviation, will improve patient satisfaction.

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