Influencers of participation in social roles and activities among women veterans with lower extremity amputations: an exploratory qualitative study.
Nicole R Walker, Christine M Olney, Andrew H Hansen
PMID 39163413WHAT IT FOUND
Women Veterans with leg amputations described sweat inside the prosthesis, body-image worries, and limited footwear as barriers to going out and daily activities.
They also said prosthetic care often ignored women's needs.
Key findings
01Heat and sweat inside the prosthesis could make the leg slip, and participants described this as limiting their ability to participate.
02Body image and footwear restrictions influenced participation, including avoiding going out with friends and being unable to do tasks such as shoveling snow.
03Participants described prosthetic care as not gender-aware, including assumptions that women prioritized appearance and barriers to receiving high-activity devices.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only eleven women Veterans participated after 21 were screened, and recruitment came from people who had completed a related study and wanted future research. The study was exploratory and did not test whether any intervention improved participation. Findings are themes from focus groups, so they cannot show how common the barriers are. Qualitative data may be affected by social desirability and recall bias. The sample was limited to US women Veterans with lower extremity amputations.
Declared interests
The authors reported no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that any treatment improves participation. This was a small qualitative focus group study of women Veterans, so it describes reported experiences, not tested effects.