More than bodily damage: a qualitative exploration of lower limb prosthesis users' experiences with injurious falls.

PURPOSE: Explore lower limb prosthesis (LLP) users' experiences with injurious falls.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse group of 24 LLP users from across the United States. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a qualitative, phenomenological approach with a constructivist paradigm.

RESULTS

Three themes emerged: (1) consequences of injurious falls extend beyond bodily damage to include adverse psychological outcomes and damage to the prosthesis, (2) treatment from a physician is not required for a fall to be considered injurious, and (3) injurious falls influence activities LLP users engage in, strategies they adopt to perform them, and how frequently they participate in them.

CONCLUSION

When describing injurious falls LLP users report a broader range of experiences than the literature suggests. These experiences include outcomes unique to LLP users, such as damage to the prosthesis. Our findings indicate that traditional approaches to classifying injurious falls may need to be reconsidered. We propose the term "falls of consequence" to capture the spectrum of adverse, meaningful fall-related outcomes LLP users experience, which can be further categorized into physical, functional, and psychological outcomes. Improved documentation of consequential falls may enable more nuanced and meaningful evaluations of fall prevention interventions.

CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: Not applicable.