The impact of medical, reeducational, and psychological variables on rehabilitation outcome in amputees.

178 male unilateral above-knee amputees (cause of amputation: war injury or accident) participated in the study. Medical reeducational, social, vocational, and psychological predictor variables as well ad medical, social, vocational, and psychological outcome variables were assessed by means of interviews, expert ratings, questionnaires, and by ratings from the amputees partners. A series of risk factors for poor rehabilitation was specified by means of discriminant and correlational analyses. Optimization of medical/reeducational care, helping the amputee to gain insight into the necessity of amputation, making available to him a person to confide in with personal problems, and helping him to overcome social withdrawal seem to be the most important measures to prevent poor rehabilitation outcome.