Tunisian lower limb amputees and satisfaction towards their prosthesis: About 74 cases.

OBJECTIVE: Assess satisfaction of lower limb amputees towards their device.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective study of device-fitted lower limb amputees followed at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department at the University Hospital of Monastir. Epidemiological and clinical parameters were assessed with evaluation of fitted patients' satisfaction towards their prosthesis (survey on the satisfaction of patients with lower limb amputations towards their prosthesis) (SAT-PRO).

RESULTS: We collected 74 lower limb amputees including 16 initially fitted and 58 who had their device during the study period. The average age of our patients was 62 years with a male predominance. The most frequent amputation level was transtibial (71%). The average delay of the device compared to the surgery was 10.08 months with extremes of 2-60 months. The age of the device for already fitted patients averaged 22.73 months with a range of 1-360 months. The calculated score of satisfaction towards the prosthesis (SAT-PRO) for fitted patients averaged 32.41 with extreme varying from 18 to 51. This assessment showed an improvement in the satisfaction of our prosthesis patients. SAT-PRO means within this group was increased from 32.77 to 38.31 (P=0.002) with an average gain of 5.54±5.38. Satisfaction towards the prosthesis was positively correlated with the urban origin, high socioeconomic level, the age less than 65 years, the absence of disease history, the traumatic etiology, the level of distal amputation, the age of the device, the quality of life and the functional outcome score (ICL).

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The level of satisfaction of lower limb amputees towards the prostheses depends on several factors. It is very important for its impact on the quality of life and autonomy.