Quality of Life among Patients with Lower Limb Amputation

Abstract

Background: Lower extremity amputation is a surgical procedure resulting in important anatomical, functional, psychological, and social consequences that can influence the quality of life of these patients. This study was aimed to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of patients with limb amputation and identify the factors affecting the quality of life among patients with limb amputation. The study was conducted at Orthopedics and Surgical Department in El-Demerdash Hospital at Ain Shams University Hospitals. A sample of purposive of 100 adult male and female patients who met the inclusion criteria was included. Design: It was a descriptive exploratory design. Tools (a) Structured interview questionnaire (SIQ) was used to collect personal data, (b) short form (36) health status questionnaires: this part was utilized to assess the quality of life among Egyptian patients with amputation. The results of this study: illustrated that males constituted 59% of the participants in this study and females 41%. Most participants experienced a change in the quality of life. There is a statistically significant difference between total QOL aspects and each of the following: age, gender, educational level, and type of work. This study concluded that the quality of life automatically drops after losing any important part of one’s body. The most affected aspects are the physical and mental ones and this is very frequent in amputation. This study recommended that replication of the study on a larger sample from different geographical areas should be done to achieve more general results.

Keywords: Quality of life; lower limb amputation