A study that examined the effect of obesity on inpatient amputation rehabilitation outcomes concluded that obesity does not appear to significantly impact the outcomes and, as such, should not be a deciding factor as to whether a patient is offered rehabilitation. The study was published online February 17 in the journal Disability and Rehabilitation.
The researchers conducted a retrospective chart review, examining admissions for lower-limb amputation rehabilitation at a regional amputee rehabilitation program in Canada between December 2011 and June 2014. Discharge outcomes were predefined as the two-minute walk test (2MWT), the L test of functional mobility, and the Special Interest Group in Amputee Medicine (SIGAM) score. These were compared between each body mass index group (underweight, normal, overweight, and obese) as a whole, and within transtibial, transfemoral, and bilateral amputation groups.
Of the 289 admissions that met the inclusion criteria, only patients who were underweight walked significantly less distance during the 2MWT than patients of normal weight. There were group differences in the L test, but post hoc testing was unable to qualify the differences. No significant difference was found in the SIGAM score. There were no significant differences found in the 2MWT, L test, or SIGAM when patients were grouped by amputation level.
