Frequency of Low Back Pain and its Effect on Function and HealthRelated Quality of Life across Three Levels of Lower Limb Amputation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: An amputation is a dramatic event that brings marked changes in an individual life which may affect the person physically and psychologically. Objective: To determine the frequency of non-specific low back pain and its effect on function and health-related quality of life across three levels of lower limb amputation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotics Peshawar (PIPOS) from May 2020 to Sep 2020. The inclusion criteria were: both males and females ages 18-65 years, patients with unilateral transfemoral, knee disarticulation, and transtibial amputation. The data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. The outcomes were measured by the Roland Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ), The short form 36 health survey (SF-36), and questions about the prevalence of LBP. The data was analyzed by SPSS v.25. Results: A total of 264 amputees with a frequency of male 219 (83%) and female 45(17%) participated in this study. There was a significant association between pre and post-amputation back pain (P 0.05). There was no statistical difference between disability and level of amputation (P> 0.05). A statistical difference was found between low back pain and all domains of quality of life except mental and physical health with (P 0.05). Conclusion: This study found that LBP was prevalent after amputation. There was a significant association between low back pain before and after amputation while no significant association was found in low back pain across the three levels of amputation. The effect of low back pain on disability was found statistically significant and the effect of low back pain on quality of life was significant in some domains like Physical function, and social function.

Keywords

• low back pain
• quality of life
• lower limb amputation