Ennion Liezel, Manig Sarah
University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
Prosthet Orthot Int. 2019 Apr;43(2):170-179. doi: 10.1177/0309364618792730. Epub 2018 Aug 16.
: Ambulation with a prosthesis is the ultimate goal of rehabilitation for a person with a major lower limb amputation. Due to challenges with prosthetic service delivery in rural settings, many patients with amputations are not benefitting from prosthetic interventions. Inaccessibility to prosthetic services results in worse functional outcomes and quality of life. Learning from the experiences of current prosthetic users in this setting can assist to improve prosthetic service delivery.
: To explore the experiences of lower limb prosthetic users and to understand the importance of a lower limb prosthesis to a prosthetic user in a rural area of South Africa.
: A generic qualitative approach and an explorative design were utilised in this study.
: A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data from nine prosthetic users in a rural area in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Demographic details and information related to acute in-patient rehabilitation were analysed descriptively.
: All participants were independent in activities of daily living with their prosthesis and participated actively in their community. Participants reported that their prosthesis was essential to their functioning. High travel cost was highlighted as a barrier to the maintenance of their prosthesis. Patients were dissatisfied with being unemployed.
: Prosthetic intervention positively influences function, independence and community participation. Challenges relating to the accessibility, cost and maintenance of prosthetics should be a priority to ensure continued functional independence for prosthetic users.
Understanding the importance of a prosthesis to a prosthetic user validates prosthetic intervention for persons living with an amputation in a rural setting and is vital in establishing and remodelling effective systems for prosthetic service delivery.
使用假肢行走是下肢大截肢患者康复的最终目标。由于农村地区假肢服务提供存在挑战，许多截肢患者无法从假肢干预中受益。无法获得假肢服务会导致功能结果和生活质量更差。借鉴当前该环境下假肢使用者的经验有助于改善假肢服务提供。
探索下肢假肢使用者的经验，并了解下肢假肢对南非农村地区假肢使用者的重要性。
本研究采用一般定性方法和探索性设计。
使用半结构化访谈指南从南非姆普马兰加省农村地区的九名假肢使用者收集数据。访谈进行录音，逐字转录并进行主题分析。对人口统计学细节和与急性住院康复相关的信息进行描述性分析。
所有参与者使用假肢在日常生活活动中都能独立，并积极参与社区活动。参与者报告称他们的假肢对其功能至关重要。高昂的出行成本被突出为维护假肢的障碍。患者对失业不满意。
假肢干预对功能、独立性和社区参与有积极影响。与假肢的可及性、成本和维护相关的挑战应作为优先事项，以确保假肢使用者持续的功能独立性。
了解假肢对假肢使用者的重要性可验证对农村地区截肢者的假肢干预，并且对于建立和重塑有效的假肢服务提供系统至关重要。
