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Abstract. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether phantom limb pain, body image, activity restriction, psychosocial adjustment and satisfaction with prosthesis helps predict alteration and level of emotional distress among amputee patients. Material and method: The study was an observational, retrospective study. Forty patients, participants aged 63.86±9.63 years; 32 were males (80%) and 8 females (20%), that underwent lower limb amputation during 2014-2017 at the Surgical Clinic II Cluj County Hospital have been evaluated. Measurements were performed using specific questionnaires for assessing the predictor variables (pain in the phantom limb, body image, activities limitation, psychosocial adaptation to the status of amputee and satisfaction with prosthesis) and the outcome variable (dysfunctional negative emotions such as depression and anxiety). Results. Preliminary data show that phantom limb pain and psychosocial adaptation, as independent variables, accounts for 31.6% of variance of the dysfunctional negative emotions and makes a significant contribution to the regression model. On the other hand, body image, activity restriction, or satisfaction with prosthesis were not independently linked to dysfunctional negative emotions. Conclusions. The results show that phantom limb pain and psychosocial adaptation were significant predictor of dysfunctional negative emotions, therefore interventions to reduce or suppress it, have an impact in reducing emotional distress in patients that have undergone lower limb amputation.
Key Words: emotional distress, phantom limb pain, psychosocial adjustment, satisfaction with prosthesis, body image, lower-limb amputees.
Introduction
Amputation refers to partial or complete loss of an organ or part of the body that occurs as a result of surgery or an accident. The incidence of surgery involving a leg amputation is 11 times higher than that of the upper limb (Stewart et al 1992). Ablative surgery takes place if the limb salvage is impossible (Smith & Skinner 2014; Uustal 2015). After limb amputation, the patient is not only physically and mentally affected, but also the social and family relationships get to be impaired, thus often patients tend to isolate themselves and severely limit their activities. That is why, limb loss may have catastrophic consequences, meaning much more than the loss of a limb, namely the presence of emotional distress (Dadkhah et al 2003). Stress is a physiological or psychological response of the individual and/or the body in a stressful situation (Zlate...