Psychological distress in workers with traumatic upper or lower limb amputations following industrial injuries.

Abstract

Workers' Compensation Board of British ColumbiaObjective: To determine whether individuals with traumatic upper limb amputations would report more symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression than individuals with traumatic lower limb amputations. Study Design: Retrospective file review. Setting: CARF-accredited outpatient rehabilitation center. Participants: Thirty workers with unilateral upper limb amputations and 25 workers with unilateral lower limb amputations. Main Outcome Measures: Presence or absence of depression, symptoms of PTSD, and pain. Results: The upper limb group had a higher frequency of depression and symptoms of PTSD than the lower limb group. The 2 groups did not differ with respect to pain complaints. Conclusion: More so than injuries to the lower limbs, upper limb injuries may render individuals vulnerable to PTSD and depression.

The relationship between prosthesis use, phantom pain and psychiatric symptoms in male traumatic limb amputees

“…Levels of anxiety and depression may be elevated in the acute period (28-51%) (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). It has been suggested that there is a dramatic reduction in psychological symptoms (anxiety and depression) 2 months after discharge from the rehabilitation ward.…”

“…Prosthesis use has been shown to be correlated with increased quality of life (5,37). High anxiety and depression levels have been determined in the acute period in amputees (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). In addition to studies suggesting that longterm depression and anxiety decrease in patients undergoing rehabilitation (25)(26)(27)(28)(29), others have proposed that these remain elevated even after many years (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35).…”

Impact of Michelangelo prosthetic hand: Findings from a crossover longitudinal study

“…As such, they can potentially address both functional [3] and cosmetic [4] user needs and have positive psychosocial implications [5][6][7][8][9]. However, the actual impact of these technologies on patients' lives has been documented in only two case reports [10][11].…”

Theoretical Models of Health Psychology and the Model for Integrating Medicine and Psychology

“…First, the cause of the health condition may be a traumatic event. Examples of this may include burns (DiFede and Barocas, 1999;DuHamel, Difede, Foley, & Greenleaf, 2002;Van Loey, Maas, Faber, & Taal, 2003;Stoddard et al, 2006), spinal cord injuries (see Chapter 10), or traumatic amputations (Cheung, Alvaro, & Colotla, 2003;Cavanagh, Shin, Karamouz, & Rauch, 2006). In these examples, the event causing the injury may induce posttraumatic stress symptoms, even if the person had not sustained the injury.…”