Factors influencing perceived function in the upper limb prosthesis user population.
Xuyuan Zhang, Kerstin S Baun, Lauren Trent and 2 others
PMID 34409777WHAT IT FOUND
Perceived function in upper limb prosthesis users was associated with satisfaction, pain with prosthesis, and proximal amputation level.
It was not associated with age, education, gender, employment status, or prosthesis type.
Key findings
01In the adjusted analysis, perceived function was significantly associated with satisfaction, pain with prosthesis, and amputation level 3.
02There was no evidence of an association between perceived function and age, education, gender, employment status, or prosthesis type.
03The adjusted model had an R-squared of 0.37.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional and self-reported, so it shows associations, not that changing satisfaction or pain will change function. All participants were at the definitive prosthetic fitting stage, so the results may not apply to people earlier in fitting or not currently in fitting. All facilities were part of one institution, so results may not generalize to other care models. Some categories had few participants, and a post hoc analysis found power of 0.73 for amputation level, slightly under the recommended 0.8. The adjusted model excluded one participant with a perceived function score of 0. Pain without prosthesis was removed from the adjusted model because it correlated highly with pain with prosthesis. No performance-based measure was used, only patient-reported outcomes.
Declared interests
No author conflict of interest statement is provided in the supplied text. The publication metadata lists U.S. government Public Health Service research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving satisfaction or reducing pain will cause better perceived function. This was a cross-sectional survey that reported associations, not a test of change over time.