Development of an item bank for measuring prosthetic mobility in people with lower limb amputation: The Prosthetic Limb Users Survey of Mobility (PLUS-M).

The study included only adults with unilateral lower limb amputation due to trauma or dysvascular causes, so scores are centered on that group and may not fit people with bilateral amputation, upper limb amputation, cancer-related amputation, congenital limb difference, or children. The sample was mostly men, White, non-Hispanic/Latino, and established prosthesis users, so it may not represent all lower limb prosthesis users. Recruitment deliberately aimed for equal trauma and dysvascular groups, which made the sample have more trauma-related amputation than the national population. PLUS-M asks people how they perceive their mobility with a prosthesis. It does not directly measure how fast or safely they can perform activities, and it may not capture what they actually choose to do daily. The full bank did not reach the planned upper range for very high mobility. A possible ceiling effect remained for people at the top of the scale. Responsiveness to prosthetic or therapeutic interventions was not tested in this study, so the paper does not show that PLUS-M scores change after treatment.

The supplied metadata lists NIH extramural research support. The article text provided here does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.

Do not read the PLUS-M results as proof that a prosthetic intervention improves mobility. This was an instrument development study. It showed how well the PLUS-M questions measure perceived mobility in adults with unilateral lower limb amputation, not whether therapy caused change, and responsiveness to interventions was not tested.