Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (Apr 2024)

250 Gender Disparities in the Acquisition of Lower Extremity Prosthetics Following Major Limb Amputation

  • Julien Levy,
  • Neil Kamdar,
  • Widya Adidharma,
  • Stephen Kemp,
  • Rachel Hooper

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2024.229
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8
pp. 75 – 75

Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The time between lower extremity amputations and prosthetic acquisition profoundly influences patient rehabilitation and mortality outcomes. Our primary outcome was time to prosthetic acquisition following major limb amputation. We hypothesize that women face an increased time lag between amputation and prosthetic acquisition compared to men. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We used the 2015-2021 Truven Marketscan Medicare and Commercial Claims Administrative dataset to identify individuals with lower extremity amputations based on CPT codes. We excluded patients 1 indicated longer time to prosthetic acquisition between comparison groups. The adjusted time ratio for women compared to men for the time to acquisition of prosthetics was increased; this was statistically significant (TR 1.3281, 95% CI 1.1667, 1.5118). This time ratio suggests that if a man received a prosthetic in 100 days, a women would receive her prosthetic in 133 days. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: We found a significant difference in the time to prosthetic acquisition following major limb amputation and acquisition rate in the first three months of amputation among men and women. Successful rehabilitation, quality of life, and healthcare costs are influenced by the timeliness of prosthetic acquisition.