Researchers tested the Limb Injury Measurement Battery for Quality of Life (LIMB-QOL) assessment to develop a measure of satisfaction for O&P device users, the LIMB-QOL Satisfaction with Orthosis/Prosthesis. The LIMB-QOL was developed to assess patient-reported outcomes for individuals who have sustained major limb trauma and limb loss.
The researchers developed items to assess the user’s satisfaction with their orthoses and/or prostheses and their emotional and physical assimilation the devices, including usage, fit, and comfort. A initial pool of 65 items was administered to 471 individuals in the LIMB-QOL field testing/calibration study. Thirty-nine items from the original pool were removed for content, and 11 items were removed due to differential item functioning by type of injury/limb loss and device (orthosis versus prosthesis). Following psychometric analysis, 15 items were included in the final item bank.
The researchers concluded that the 15-item bank had strong psychometric properties, could be administered as a computerized adaptive test or seven-item short form, and was applicable to upper- and lower-limb injuries, limb loss and reconstruction, and to O&P device users. They suggested it would be ideal for large-scale monitoring of QOL outcomes, although further evaluation of the validity for individuals with dysvascular or degenerative conditions is needed.
The open-access study, “Measuring satisfaction with orthotic and prosthetic devices,” was published in Quality of Life Research.
