Comorbidities impact functional mobility after amputation. What’s a PT to do?

People with limb loss require lifelong care but optimal community integration can be limited by decreased mobility. Clinical Practice Guidelines detail initial training, but less guidance for ongoing care. Recent research has revealed that the modifiable factors influencing functional mobility depend on whether prosthetic walking ability was defined by subjective patient-reported outcomes or objective clinical measures. While clinical measures of mobility such as walking speed are influenced by balance ability and balance confidence; patient-reported prosthetic mobility has been found to depend on factors that include cognitive, cardiopulmonary, integumentary, and musculoskeletal comorbidities. Cognition can also impact the choice, comfort, and use of prostheses. This course will present recent research on modifiable factors including comorbidities in multiple systems that can be addressed to maximize prosthetic mobility after lower limb loss. Attendees will leave with concrete clinical approaches to address common problems that impact prosthetic function among people with limb loss.

Meet our Presenters

Christopher K. Wong, PT, PhD, OCS, Columbia University

Daniel J. Lee, PT, DPT, GCS, Touro College