Pain mapping and health-related conditions in relation to forearm crutch usage: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

To explore pain complaints and health-related conditions, verifying if permanent or temporary usage of forearm crutches could be associated with them. We designed a cross-sectional study from a sample who answered a five-month public call. We organized data into five domains: (1) diseases, signs and symptoms; (2) personal factors related to age, sex, marital status, and paid occupation; (3) body structure and functional components defined by body mass index, arterial pressure, mental state, and pain; (4) activities and participation assessed by satisfaction with Assistive Technology; (5) and environmental factors focused on medicines and forearm crutch usage. The sample was geo-referenced by address, and the frequency of the codified health conditions was distributed according to ICD-10’s chapters. We recruited three times more permanent than temporary users dealing with chronic and external causes of diseases. Pain mapping suggested different pattern of complaints between permanent and temporary users. Women who were temporary users seemed more likely to be injured because of external causes. Moreover, both users reported intense (31%) and moderate (53%) levels of pain. In contrast, mild pains were only reported by permanent users (16%), suggesting a distinction between acute and chronic pain according to the kind of forearm crutch usage.

KEYWORDS:

• equipment and supplies
• geographic mapping
• health surveys
• locomotion
• self-help devices

Acknowledgments

We thank CAPES, CNPq, and FAPDF/PPSUS for financial support.

Declaration of interest statement

We declare we do not have any conflicts of interest in the present study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [403457/2017-6]; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [88881.068134/2014-01]; Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal [193.001.617/2016]; Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações [240.302].