Abstract
Objective
To assess the clinical resources available for the assessment of health outcomes in
people with lower limb amputation and to understand barriers and facilitators associated
with use of standardized outcome measures in clinical practice.
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting
General community (online).
Participants
A volunteer sample of prosthetic practitioners was recruited through national professional
organizations. Eligible participants were practitioners certified by a professional
prosthetics organization and currently practicing as a prosthetist, prosthetist-orthotist,
or prosthetic assistant.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
A custom-designed online survey on clinical use of patient-reported and performance-based
standardized outcome measures to assess patients with lower limb amputation.
Results
A total of 375 participants completed the survey. Most participants (79%) reported
that they are encouraged or required to administer standardized outcome measures in
their clinic or facility. Most participants reported that use of patient-reported
and performance-based outcome measures are within their scope of practice (88%) and
that they have the knowledge required for outcomes measurement (84%). Few participants
agreed that outcomes measurement is standardized across the profession (30%). Most
participants had access to small spaces and equipment for outcomes measurement, such
as short hallways (65%-94%), stairs (69%), and tablets with wireless internet connection
(83%). Most participants reported that they would be willing to spend between 5 (36%
of participants) and 10 (43% of participants) minutes on self-reported surveys, and
between 10 (41% of participants) and 20 (28% of participants) minutes on performance-based
tests.
Conclusions
Outcomes measurement is encouraged or expected in contemporary prosthetic practice.
Strategies to improve standardization and efficiency of administration are needed
to facilitate routine use of outcome measures in clinical care.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
ABC (American Board of Certification in Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Pedorthics), AMP (Amputee Mobility Predictor), BOC (Board of Certification/Accreditation), CHAMP (Comprehensive High-Level Activity Mobility Predictor), LLPR (Limb Loss and Preservation Registry), PEQ (Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire), PLUS-M (Prosthetic Limb Users Survey of Mobility), TUG (Timed Up-and-Go), 2MWT (2-minute walk test)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 05, 2022
Accepted:
March 10,
2022
Received in revised form:
March 8,
2022
Received:
December 15,
2021
Footnotes
Ms Rowe's current affiliation: Hanger Clinic, Waterbury, Connecticut.
Ms Fitting's current affiliation: Willamette Orthotics and Prosthetics, LLC, Salem, Oregon.
Supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award No. R01HD065340. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Disclosures: none
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
