Abstract
The major advantages of early fitting with a standard prosthesis, are related to future acceptance, skilled use, and functional use of the prosthesis. Increasingly more parents of juvenile amputees are requesting myo-electric prostheses for their children. This study explored the areas of acceptance and adjustment, skill level, and functional use of a myo-electric prosthesis compared to a standard prosthesis with a child selected from the Juvenile Amputee Clinic list at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Acceptance and adjustment were measured by the Prosthetic Adjustment Scale and by parent interviews: Skill level and functional use of the prostheses were measured by simple instruments devised by the writer. Differences in skill level, acceptance, and functional use between the standard and the myo-electric prostheses were outlined and discussed. This study lends support to the idea of early myo-electric fitting.
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