A team of researchers from the University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, conducted a survey to investigate differences between self-reported cognitive concerns in people with lower-limb loss and normative data derived from the U.S. general population. A secondary aim was to determine if there were cognitive differences based on amputation etiology or age. The results of the study, “Self-Reported Cognitive Concerns in People With Lower Limb Loss,” were published online in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The cohort consisted of a volunteer sample of 1,086 persons with lower-limb loss resulting from trauma or dysvascular complications who regularly use a prosthetic limb. They were assessed using the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders Applied Cognition General Concerns v1.0 Short Form (Neuro-QoL ACGC), an eight-item self-report measure of general cognitive concerns. People with lower-limb loss reported significantly more cognitive concerns than the Neuro-Qol normative sample. When compared to the Neuro-QoL normative sample, individuals with lower-limb loss report greater concerns with cognitive health. Cognitive concerns were not differentially affected by age or cause of amputation.
The researchers concluded that the presence of cognitive concerns in people with lower-limb loss suggests a need to assess perceived cognitive function in order to tailor education and training in prosthetic use and care.
