Categorization and recommendations for outcome measures for lower limb absence by an expert panel.

Background: Understanding the psychometric strengths and limitations of outcome measures for use with people with lower limb absence (LLA) is important for selecting measures suited to evaluating patient outcomes, answering clinical and research questions, and informing health care policy. The aim of this project was to review the current psychometric evidence on outcome measures in people with LLA to determine which measures should be included in a stakeholder consensus process.

Methods: An expert panel was assembled, and a 3-stage review process was used to categorize outcome measures identified in a systematic literature review into 3 distinct categories (recommended for measures with better than adequate psychometric properties; recommended with qualification; and unable to recommend).

Prevalence and characteristics of phantom limb pain and residual limb pain in the long term after upper limb amputation.

This study aims to describe the prevalence and characteristics of phantom limb pain and residual limb pain after upper limb amputation. One-hundred and forty-one participants (139 males; mean age 74.8 years; mean time since amputation 50.

Intention to consent to living organ donation: an exploratory study.

Living organ donation, that is the removal and transplantation of whole organs or segments of organs that a volunteering donor can live without, has been proposed as an effective and sustainable source of transplantable organs to mitigate the deficit in supply from the traditional cadaveric donor pool. In 2006, the Irish government deemed the development of a national Living Transplant Programme a service priority. The current study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in the context of living organ donation intentions in an Irish sample.

Coping, affective distress, and psychosocial adjustment among people with traumatic upper limb amputations.

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence of symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of predominantly elderly males with acquired upper limb amputations (n=138) and examined the contribution of coping strategies to the prediction of psychosocial adjustment.

Method: One hundred and thirty-eight men with injury-related upper limb amputations completed self-report questionnaires assessing coping strategies, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and psychosocial adaptation to prosthesis use.

Results: Prevalence of significant depressive symptoms was 28.

Affective distress and amputation-related pain among older men with long-term, traumatic limb amputations.

Psychological distress and postamputation pain were investigated in a sample of 582 males with long-term limb amputations (mean time since amputation 639.3 months, standard deviation 166.1; range 240-784 months).

Coping strategies as predictors of psychosocial adaptation in a sample of elderly veterans with acquired lower limb amputations.

This study examines the contribution of demographic/amputation-related variables and coping strategies to the prediction of psychosocial adaptation in veterans with acquired lower limb amputations. Multiple indicators of the psychosocial adjustment of 796 individuals in the UK aged between 26-92 years with lower limb amputations were assessed. Hierarchical linear regressions were performed to investigate relationships between demographic/amputation-related variables (i.

Factor structure of the Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scales (TAPES) with individuals with acquired upper limb amputations.

Objectives: To investigate the factorial composition of the Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scales (TAPES), a multidimensional assessment of adaptation to amputation and prosthesis, for use with individuals with acquired upper limb amputations.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of members of the British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association.

Results: A total of 101 individuals (men, 100; mean age, 73.

The factor structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in older individuals with acquired amputations: a comparison of four models using confirmatory factor analysis.

Background: There has been little attention to the underlying dimensional structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in analyses involving individuals older than 65 years of age despite its routine application in this age group.

Methods: The factor structure of the HADS was investigated using a sample of 680 veterans with limb amputations who were aged at least 66 years (mean 79.0, SD 5.