Body image and self-esteem in lower-limb amputees

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 3; p. e92943
• Main Authors: Holzer, Lukas A, Sevelda, Florian, Fraberger, Georg, Bluder, Olivia, Kickinger, Wolfgang, Holzer, Gerold
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 24.03.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Aesthetics; Age; Aged; Amputation; Amputees - psychology; Amputees - rehabilitation; Analysis; Back pain; Biology and Life Sciences; Body image; Demographics; Diabetes; Female; Humans; Identity; Image quality; Impact analysis; Lower Extremity; Male; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Pain; Pain perception; Palliative care; Patients; Phantom Limb - psychology; Phantom Limb - rehabilitation; Prostheses; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; Rehabilitation; Research and Analysis Methods; Rheumatoid arthritis; Self Concept; Self esteem; Self image; Social Sciences; Statistical analysis; Studies; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Variance analysis
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092943

Limb amputation is often an inevitable procedure in the advanced condition of various diseases and poses a dramatic impact on a patient's life. The aim of the present study is to analyze the impact of lower-limb amputations on aesthetic factors such as body image and self-esteem as well as quality of life (QoL). 298 patients (149 uni- or bilateral lower-limb amputees and 149 controls) were included in this cross-sectional study in three centers. Demographic data was collected and patients received a 118-item questionnaire including the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), the Rosenberg Self-esteem (RSE) scale and the SF-36 Health Survey (QoL). ANOVA and student's t-test were used for statistical analysis. Unilateral lower-limb amputees showed a significant lower MBSRQ score of 3.07±0.54 compared with 3.41±0.34 in controls (p<0.001) and a lower score in the RSE compared to controls (21.63±4.72 vs. 21.46±5.86). However, differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.36). Patients with phantom pain sensation had a significantly reduced RSE (p = 0.01). The SF-36 health survey was significantly lower in patients with lower-limb amputation compared to controls (42.17±14.47 vs. 64.05±12.39) (p<0.001). This study showed that lower-limb amputations significantly influence patients' body image and QoL. Self-esteem seems to be an independent aspect, which is not affected by lower-limb amputation. However, self-esteem is influenced significantly by phantom pain sensation.