Prosthetic Satisfaction and Body Image among Lower Limb Amputee: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Limb amputation not only brings functional and sensory loss, but also leads to loss or change of body image. These changes have significant effect on the Quality of Life (QoL) of an individual. Amputee adaptation varies widely between individuals. For an amputee a prosthesis not only bring back near normal physical appearance but also it significantly repair his disturbed body image. There is a significant correlation between body image and life satisfaction. Aim: To investigate the correlation between body image and prosthetic satisfaction among lower limb amputee. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2018 to January 2020 at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Participants with unilateral lower limb prosthesis using amputees of either sex from Regional Artificial Limb Centre, Lucknow were included in the study. Each participant was subjected offline questionnaire based assessment of satisfaction with respect to their prosthesis related to it`s function, aesthetic (cosmesis), weight of prosthesis and general (overall) by Revised Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scale (R-TAPES). Change in body image was assessed by Amputee Body Image Scale (ABIS). Results were analysed by computer-based software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) windows version 20.0. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) t-test was used for normally distributed and Mann-Whitney U test was used for abnormally distributed variables. Results: The study enrolled 119 patients in which the most common cause of amputation was an accident (69). Statistically significant difference was found for satisfaction between males and females for weight of prosthesis (p-value=0.038). Statistically significant difference was found between male and female for amputee body image with ABIS score (p-value=0.001). Significant correlation was found between ABIS and functional satisfaction (p-value=0.001; r=-0.38)) and between ABIS and weight satisfaction (p-value=0.001; r=-0.36). Conclusion: Amputation causes significantly deterioration of body image among the amputee, with such deteriorated body image prosthetic satisfaction remains a big challenge for healthcare worker and prosthetist