Quality of Life and Well-being in Patients with Lower-limb Amputation Using a Prosthetic Limb: A Cross-sectional Study in a Major Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Quality of life (QoL) has been advocated for as an outcome measure for assessing the effect of treatment and quality of care given to prosthetic users. As such, it is necessary to assess the factors that play a role in influencing QoL to achieve better outcomes. Unfortunately, QoL has not been adequately studied in Saudi Arabia, which warranted further research. The objectives of this study were to estimate the QoL of prosthetic users in Riyadh and determine its association with Ambulation (AM), Social Burden (SB), and Appearance (AP). Methods A cross-sectional study design was used to achieve our objectives. Our participants were asked to fill out our self-administered questionnaire, which was composed of the Arabic versions of the Well-being (WB), AP, AM, and SB scales of the Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ). Results A sample of 62 prosthetic users due to unilateral amputations were randomly selected from our sampling frame, 10 of which acted as outliers from the 95% confidence interval of QoL (CI) (56.13–67.94) and were omitted. The WB scale was shown to have a median of 57.5, whereas QoL had a mean of 62.58. In addition, a positive relationship was found between QoL and SB (P < 0.001; R s = 0.657), AP (P < 0.001; R = 0.547), and AM (P < 0.001; R = 0.634). Conclusion Prosthetic users in Riyadh suffer from low QoL and satisfaction. Moreover, QoL was shown to be a multifactorial concept with many different elements and constituents. This suggests that a more comprehensive and inclusive method of prosthetic rehabilitation is required. Clinical Relevance There is a scarcity of QoL and well-being studies in Saudi Arabia regarding individuals with amputation and prosthetic users, given the number of prosthetic users, estimated to be around 2092 individuals. By estimating their QoL, we could identify what improvements are to be made to improve their lives.