MYOELECTRIC PROSTHESES - A LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP AND A STUDY OF THE USEOF ALTERNATE PROSTHESES

Forty-four patients who had had a total of forty-seven amputations of an upper extremity and who had had a myoelectric prosthesis for more t han two years were evaluated retrospectively for the amount of use of the prosthesis, the use of any other prosthesis, and the demographic f actors that might be related to use of the prosthesis. The average dur ation of follow-up was five years (range, twenty-five months to sevent een years). Forty of the forty-four patients also had a conventional p rosthesis. Twenty-two patients (50 per cent) rejected the myoelectric prosthesis completely; thirteen (32 per cent) of the forty patients wh o also had a conventional prosthesis rejected the conventional prosthe sis completely. The patients who used the myoelectric device the least were employed in occupations that required high-demand use of the pro sthesis (lifting of more than 4.5 kilograms [ten pounds] or repetitive manual labor) or were receiving or seeking Workers' Compensation, or both.