Epidemiological study of failures of the Jaipur Foot.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of usage and demographics on damage to the Jaipur Foot prosthesis as well as the epidemiology and etiology of amputations performed at Santokba Durlabjhi Memorial Hospital (SDMH) in Jaipur, India.

DESIGN

Total time spent standing, total time spent wearing and total distance walked were compared against severity and location of damage to the prosthesis. Time between initial fitting and follow-up visit for damaged prosthetic was also considered in this analysis. A novel damage severity scale based on prosthesis functionality is presented along with a damage location legend.

RESULTS

Patients from 10 different states and two territories throughout India were included in the study. No main effects were found to be statistically significant in predicting severity or location of damage. Only the interaction between a patient's total time spent standing and their total time spent wearing the prosthesis as well as the interaction between a patient's total time spent standing and total distance walked was significant in predicting location of damage to the Jaipur Foot (p = .0327, p = .0278, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The lack of significant usage factor effect on damage severity or location could support previous findings that lack standardization in materials and manufacturing processes, which is the major drawback of the Jaipur Foot. Implications for Rehabilitation The Jaipur Foot is a safe, reliable and stable product as no abrupt breakage or sudden falls causing injury to the patient were noted. Hence, it is a safe rehabilitation device for lost limbs. The population can squat and sit cross-legged while wearing the prosthetic foot and it does not affect damage severity or location of damage, allowing for these activities to be performed while rehabilitating. The manufacturing of the foot needs to be standardized to improve life of foot. Total time spent standing, total time spent wearing and total distance walked were not predictive of severity or location of damage to the prosthesis, hence providing patient guidelines for activity during rehabilitation.