Experience of adults with upper-limb difference and their views on sensory feedback for prostheses: a mixed methods study.
Leen Jabban, Benjamin W Metcalfe, Jonathan Raines and 2 others
PMID 35870940WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with upper-limb differences said the value of prosthetic sensory feedback would be trust in the device, not a new sensation.
They wanted reliable, comfortable, adjustable feedback that complements vision and socket cues.
Key findings
01Participants weighed sensory feedback by whether it would make them trust the prosthesis, but worried it could be uncomfortable or intrusive.
0274% of survey participants who had tried a prosthesis and 86% of current users relied on looking at the prosthesis, feeling socket vibration, or hearing motor sounds, so feedback should complement these cues.
03Participants expected pressure feedback to help them hold objects without dropping or crushing them, but only if it was reliable and placed where objects contact the hand.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample, and the survey and interviews may not represent all adults with upper-limb differences. Only 15 interviews were analysed, so the themes come from a small group. The participant group included a high percentage of people with congenital limb difference (62% in the survey and 80% in interviews). Participants who agree to research may have more accepting, can-do attitudes, which may limit how the findings apply to people who are less accepting or less willing to use a prosthesis. The study described a proposed vibrotactile system rather than testing a delivered sensory feedback system. Survey responses were anonymous, so researchers could not ask follow-up questions based on a participant's survey answers. The study was exploratory and did not correct significance levels for multiple comparisons.
Declared interests
The funding statement lists Dr Brian Nicholson scholarship, Antony Best scholarship, Esther Parkin Trust scholarship, and a University of Bath University Research Studentship.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that sensory feedback improves prosthesis use or reduces abandonment. The study asked adults with upper-limb differences about their experience and expectations of a proposed system, and no sensory feedback system was tested.