Quality of Life of Nigerians with Unilateral Lower Limb Amputation
Purpose: The aims of this study were to determine the QoL of Nigerians with lower limb amputation and to investigate the influence of some clinical and socio-demographic variables on it.
Method: Forty-seven individuals with lower limb amputation participated in this study. Participants’ age, gender, marital status, occupation, time since amputation, level of amputation, affected limb and use of prosthesis were recorded. Quality of life was then measured using the WHO QOL-BREF. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test at 0.05 alpha levels.
Results: Participants’ overall health and QoL scores were 3.6(SD 0.9) and 3.9(SD 0.7) respectively. Male subjects had significantly higher scores than females in the domains of physical health (p = 0.007), social relationships (p = 0.024) and overall health (p = 0.012). Prosthesis-wearing subjects scored significantly higher in the domains of physical health (p = 0.015), psychological health (p = 0.008) and environment (p = 0.011) and overall health (0.033), than those not wearing prosthesis. Level of amputation, leg dominance and pre-amputation occupational category had no significant influence on participants’ QoL.
Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the QoL of individuals with lower limb amputation in Nigeria is moderate. The only factors which have significant influence on some QoL domains are gender and use of prosthesis.
Implications: Individuals with lower limb amputation, particularly females and those not wearing prosthesis, require special attention. Clinicians should identify barriers to the use of prosthesis so as to enhance their quality of life.
Keywords
Authors
How to Cite
Download Citation
License
Copyright © 2013 The Author(s)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License By-NC-ND 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access ).
Similar Articles
- Kelsey Vaughan, Aradhana Thapa, Cost-effectiveness of a Community-based Rehabilitation Programme in Nepal , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 26 No. 4 (2015): Winter 2015
- Ritu Kalgotra, Jaspal Singh Warwal, Effect of an Aerobic Fitness Programme Intervention on the Motor Proficiency of Children with Mild and Moderate Intellectual Disabilities in India , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 29 No. 3 (2018): Autumn 2018
- Cheryl Henderson, Hasheem Mannan, Jessica Power, Disability Inclusive Development Good Practices: Level of Commitment to Core Concepts of Human Rights , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 28 No. 3 (2017): Autumn 2017
- Ritu Kalgotra, Jaspal Singh Warwal, Development and Standardization of a Test of Motor Proficiency in Children with Intellectual Disabilities in India , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 28 No. 3 (2017): Autumn 2017
- Rebekah Young, Matthew Reeve, Nathan Grills, The Functions of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) in Low and Middle-income Countries: A Literature Review , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 27 No. 3 (2016): Autumn 2016
- Adriana Angarita-Fonseca, Stacey Lovo, Isabel Cristina Gomez-Diaz, Julia Bidonde, Martha Liliana Hijuelos-Cardenas, Maria Basualdo, Kalyani Premkumar, Melvin Urbina-Nuñez, Angela Busch, International Continuing Education for Rehabilitation Workers in Honduras: a Pre-test Post-test Evaluation , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 32 No. 4: Winter 2021
- Steven Berdenis van Berlekom, Guest Editorial - DCID: A New Era , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 31 No. 1 (2020): Spring 2020
- Acheampong Enoch, Alberta Nadutey, Barbara Fosua Afful, Reindolf Anokye, Menstrual Hygiene Management: Challenges and Coping Strategies for Adolescents with Disabilities in the Kumasi Metro of Ghana , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 31 No. 2 (2020): Summer 2020
- Usha Tiwari Upadhyay, Improving Well-Being, Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement of Indian Children with Specific Learning Disability by utilising Positive Psychology Intervention , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 32 No. 3 (2021): Autumn 2021
- Ambria Crusan, Jennifer Biggs, Kristen Maisano, Michelle Palmborg, Georgianne Kinsman, Keira DiSpirito, Kari Hartwig, Developing an Assessment Tool for Post-Surgical Paediatric Rehabilitative Care in Tanzania: an Interprofessional Approach , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 33 No. 2: (Summer) - 2022
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Christopher Olusanjo Akosile, Christian Arinze Okonkwo, Fatai Adesina Maruf, Emmanuel Chiebuka Okoye, Life Accomplishment, Social Functioning and Participation of South-Eastern Nigerians with Lower Limb Amputation , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 31 No. 2 (2020): Summer 2020