Self-care dependency assessment of person with lower limb amputation: an exploratory study

(1) Dysvascular major lower limb amputation interferes with activities of daily living.

(2) Self-care with the highest level of dependency is "walking".

(3) Self-care with the lowest level of dependency is "feeding".

(4) Develop future interventions on the degree of dependency of patients with dysvascular amputation.

to identify the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the person with dysvascular major lower limb amputation and to assess their degree of dependence and autonomy in self-care activities at home.

quantitative, exploratory, cross-sectional and descriptive study. The convenience sample consisted of 40 participants. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the short version of the Self-Care Dependence Assessment Form were used for data collection.

of the 40 (100%) participants, the majority were male; 75% were over 65 years of age, 77.5% had a transfemoral amputation, and 72.5% were confined to a wheelchair. The higher levels of dependency predominated in self-care: "walking", "bathing", "dressing and undressing", "using the toilet" and "transferring".

this study showed that the self-care domain with the highest level of dependence is "walking" self-care, and the lowest is "feeding". Greater autonomy in using the toilet, walking and transferring from bed to chair were shown to be self-care activities with the best ability to predict patient autonomy.