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Research Papers

Assessing the prosthetic needs of farmers and ranchers with amputations

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Pages 204-212 | Received 01 Dec 2011, Accepted 30 May 2012, Published online: 10 Jul 2012
 

Abstract

Purpose: Farmers and ranchers experience disabling injuries each year of which amputations account for 11%. Anecdotal evidence suggests that current prostheses may not be meeting the needs of farmers and ranchers with amputations. To better understand those prosthetic needs, a descriptive qualitative study was used to gather data with an engineering perspective.

Method: Farmers with an upper- or lower-limb amputation were interviewed. Issues explored included current and past prostheses used, prosthetic failures, and ability to complete farm tasks using a prosthesis. Prosthetists providing services to this population were also interviewed to gain knowledge of specific devices and practises used in their geographic region.

Results: Interviews with 40 farmers and 26 prosthetists revealed several common themes related to prostheses including durability/utility, environment, adaptation, cost, and education. Farmers and ranchers with amputations often made modifications to their prostheses, farm equipment, and daily routines in order to return to their vocation.

Conclusions: Farmers and ranchers with amputations have distinct prosthetic needs. Their return to farming can be facilitated by creating more durable, affordable, and adaptable prosthetic components. Our results can help guide design of more comprehensive surveys for further information gathering and new devices and establish best prosthetic practises for farmers and those in other physically demanding professions.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National AgrAbility Project and Breaking New Ground Resource Center at Purdue University (supported under USDA Special Project 2008–41590-04796) for assistance with this study.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. This research was funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the U.S. Department of Education under Grant No. H133E080009 (Principle Investigators: Steven Gard and Stefania Fatone). The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Education.

Appendix

Questions for Farmers and Ranchers

1.

What prosthetic components do you use now in farming and ranching?

2.

What prosthetic components have you used in the past? Why did you stop using that component?

3.

What components do you use that have failed? Under what circumstances did they fail?

4.

What farming and ranching tasks are facilitated by your prosthesis? What tasks are hindered by your prosthesis?

5.

Have you experienced a secondary injury due to your use of a prosthesis (e.g. fall, entanglement)?

6.

Do you have other medical conditions that affect your ability to farm or ranch?

7.

Do you have insurance and does it pay for your prosthesis?

Questions for Prosthetists

1.

Approximately how many clients do you work with who are farmers or ranchers?

2.

How many have upper-limb involvement and how many have lower-limb involvement?

3.

Do you have a preferred prosthesis configuration for transradial, transhumeral, transtibial, and transfemoral fittings? Please describe the components and suspension systems that you use in these prostheses.

4.

Who provides training in the use of the prosthesis? Is any of the training done on the farm or ranch?

5.

What problems do farmers and ranchers experience most often with their prostheses?

6.

Have any of your clients experienced skin problems due to wearing the prosthesis? What kinds of problems? Are these problems related to cold or heat?

7.

Is durability a problem? With which components?

8.

How often do the devices need to be repaired?

9.

Do you provide any electric-powered prostheses?

10.

How are prosthetic devices funded?

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