Quality of Life of Lower Limb Amputees; A Comparative Study between Rehabilitated vs Non-Rehabilitated Groups

Abstract

Amputation is a surgical operation for the removal of a limb that is necessary when limb recovery is impossible, where lower limb amputation (LLA) is frequently carried out for several reasons, such as diabetes, infection, RTA, or locally unresectable tumors. Objective: To compare the quality of life of lower limb amputee population between rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated groups. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 185 patients having lower limb amputation, out of which 115 patients were taking physiotherapy sessions and 70 were not taking any physiotherapy sessions. The data were collected from CHAL Foundation Islamabad and CHAL Foundation Swabi. A self-structured questionnaire (containing demographics, and clinical characteristics of participants) and SF-36 questionnaire was used to gauge the quality of life of both rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated groups of lower limb amputees. Results: The findings indicate that there was a significant difference found in the quality of life of lower limb amputees between the rehabilitated group and the non-rehabilitated group. Conclusions: To conclude, in light of our preliminary findings, we infer that the quality of life of lower limb amputees in rehabilitated group participants was better than those of non-rehabilitated group participants.