Quality of life experiences of adults who have undergone an amputation

• Main Author: King, Walter
• Other Authors: Roberts, Jillian
• Language: English; en
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: amputation; upper limb; quality of life
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/3896

The present study used phenomenology to inquire about the quality of life experiences of six adults who had undergone an amputation. This study also explored how the adults perceive their lives. All participants resided in Western Canada and had undergone an upper limb amputation several years prior to the study. Each participant was interviewed twice. Some of the interview questions were from Roberts and Cairns’ (1999) adaptation of Keith and Schalock’s (1994) QOL model. Interviews were conducted, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Results indicated that some participants experienced a change whereas others reported stability in quality of life. The data analysis revealed specific categories, clusters, and themes of participants’ quality of life experiences. Quality of life categories related to empowerment, satisfaction and well-being, and the social realm. Participants described their lives as being significantly changed as a result of an amputation. The data analysis also revealed specific categories, clusters, and themes of participants’ perceptions of their lives. Psychological attributes and health care were two categories. The present study offers implications for several groups of people. === Graduate