Major Matthew J, Hansen Andrew H, Esposito Elizabeth Russell
Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago IL.
Northwestern University, Chicago IL.
J Prosthet Orthot. 2021 Jan 8;Online first. doi: 10.1097/JPO.0000000000000353.
Women with lower limb loss represent a relevant and growing patient cohort with unique rehabilitation needs. These needs are emphasized in a growing body of literature and the most recent Veteran Affairs/Department of Defense clinical practice guidelines.
Women with limb loss experience greater dissatisfaction with prosthetic fit, appearance, and types of footwear they can use. There is a lack of prosthetics solutions to accommodate the desire of women to wear different footwear varieties, including high heels. The choice to wear a variety of footwear is important to attire and hence community participation. Despite these recognized challenges, women are still underserved in prosthetics research, which limits available information to guide the rehabilitation process.
This narrative review describes considerations of lower limb prosthesis prescription and use by women, and examples of current research to address these topics. Research efforts are beginning to explore factors that contribute to prosthetics prescription for women, and design creative prosthetics solutions to expand the range of available footwear options. Research is still needed to characterize the types of footwear women with limb loss prefer to use, and the effects of prosthesis designs, footwear, and lower limb loss on women mobility outcomes and community participation.
Through targeted research initiatives, scientists and clinicians can be responsive to the specific needs of women to provide evidence-based guidelines for prosthetics prescription and improve the patient-centered care after limb loss.
下肢缺失的女性是一个数量不断增加且需求独特的患者群体。越来越多的文献以及最新的退伍军人事务部/国防部临床实践指南都强调了这些需求。
肢体缺失的女性对假肢的适配性、外观以及可使用的鞋类类型更为不满。缺乏能够满足女性穿着包括高跟鞋在内的不同鞋类需求的假肢解决方案。选择穿着各种鞋类对着装以及社区参与都很重要。尽管存在这些公认的挑战，但在假肢研究中女性仍然未得到充分服务，这限制了用于指导康复过程的可用信息。
本叙述性综述描述了女性下肢假肢处方和使用的相关考量，以及当前针对这些主题的研究实例。研究工作开始探索有助于为女性开具假肢处方的因素，并设计创新的假肢解决方案以扩大可用鞋类选择范围。仍需开展研究以明确肢体缺失女性更喜欢使用的鞋类类型，以及假肢设计、鞋类和下肢缺失对女性移动能力结果和社区参与的影响。
通过有针对性的研究倡议，科学家和临床医生能够回应女性的特定需求，为假肢处方提供循证指南，并改善肢体缺失后的以患者为中心的护理。
