A team of O&P researchers compared self-reported health outcomes of lower-limb orthosis users to a sample of the United States general population and found the orthosis users reported significantly worse anxiety, fatigue, pain interference, physical function, and ability to participate in social roles and activities.
The cross-sectional online survey, which included the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Profile v2.0 (PROMIS-29), was administered to a national sample of 1,036 adults who used lower-limb orthoses for at least six months.
Participants who also used assistive devices such as canes or walkers in addition to their orthoses generally had worse scores across multiple PROMIS domains.
The researchers suggested that clinicians consider measuring the health outcomes that are generally worse for lower-limb orthosis users.
The study, “Evaluating patient-reported health outcome profiles of lower limb orthosis users,” was published in Disability and Rehabilitation.
