Wear and use of prostheses in sport by adolescents with upper limb absence: A preliminary mixed-methods study

There is minimal research on sports participation in adolescents with upper limb absence (ULA) and specifically on the impact of prosthesis provision.

This study explored using activity monitoring sensors and interviews to gain insight into levels of sport participation and associated prosthesis use in active adolescents with ULA.

A mixed methods study using a convergent parallel design.

Semi-structured interviews and activity diaries were used to investigate sports and related activities undertaken during a 2-week period. Prosthesis wear/use were determined via accelerometers worn on the anatomical and prosthetic wrists throughout; interview data added context. For comparison, accelerometer data and activity diaries were captured from similar aged anatomically intact (AI) participants.

Three adolescents with unilateral transradial ULA and 4 AI adolescents were recruited. Two ULA participants wore prostheses during sport (16.2% and 56.5% of the time). The third rarely wore their prosthesis. The ability to participate in sport has a powerful influence on participants' lives, and prostheses were used when participants felt they offered specific benefits. In contrast to AI participants, who showed similar reliance on each of their arms throughout, when wearing a prosthesis, users were heavily reliant on the anatomical arm, including during periods playing sports.

Prosthesis use facilitated access to some sports, although they were only used by 2 out of 3 participants for short periods. The methods were acceptable to adolescent individuals with ULA.