Living with an amputation: the patient

The findings of a study of 134 single-leg amputees are presented, comparing those who had recently lost a leg with others who had worn prostheses for 1-2 years. Social isolation, psychological risk and felt need were the principal indicators of level of adjustment selected. On none of these measures did experienced prosthesis-wearers show any appreciable improvement over amputees in the early stages of prosthetic rehabilitation. Severe social isolation was present in both groups, and seemed to inhibit the declaration of needs. The persistence of peripheral vascular disease was predictive of poor rehabilitation outcome.