Comorbidity Screening and Referral by Prosthetists

Depression Clinical Trial

Official title: Can Comorbidity Screening and Referral by Prosthetists Enhance Post-Amputation Care?

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Lower-limb amputation is associated with life-altering and life-limiting comorbidities. Currently, onus is on primary care providers to diagnose, educate, and refer patients for appropriate management. Recently our laboratory has found, however, that of adults post-amputation seen in an outpatient Limb Loss Clinic presenting with comorbidities, >50% are unaware they have signs of peripheral arterial disease and/or neuropathy. Lack of patient awareness and thus, inadequate comorbidity management, may contribute to suboptimal patient outcomes post-amputation. As a first step in this research line, the proposed project will help determine if comorbidity screening by prosthetists during routine care visits for patients post-amputation may enhance comorbidity awareness, increase patient satisfaction in prosthetic services, and reduce gratuitous prosthetic service utilization. During a follow-up visit, seventy patients following a unilateral lower-limb amputation will be randomized into either a standard-of-care group or a standard of-care plus group. The standard-of-care plus group will receive clinical screenings by a certified prosthetist for peripheral arterial disease, peripheral neuropathy, depression, and high-risk for persistent back pain; patient education on findings; and each participant's primary care provider will receive screening results. The long-term goal of this research is to determine if prosthetists can maximize their utility in an interdisciplinary care team, while enhancing patient outcomes post-amputation.

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Amputation
• Back Pain
• Depression
• Ischemia
• Limb Ischemia
• Low Back Pain
• Neuropathy;Peripheral
• Peripheral Nervous System Diseases

• NCT number: NCT05410548
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Delaware
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 9, 2022
• Completion date: January 30, 2023