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 than two
years were evaluated retrospectively for the amount of use of the
prosthesis, the use of any other prosthesis, and the demographic factors
that might be related to use of the prosthesis. The average duration of
follow-up was five years (range, twenty-five months to seventeen years).
Forty of the forty-four patients also had a conventional prosthesis.
Twenty-two patients (50 per cent) rejected the myoelectric prosthesis
completely; thirteen (32 per cent) of the forty patients who also had a
conventional prosthesis rejected the conventional prosthesis completely.
The patients who used the myoelectric device the least were employed in
occupations that required high-demand use of the prosthesis (lifting of
more than 4.5 kilograms [ten pounds] or repetitive manual labor) or were
receiving or seeking Workers' Compensation, or both.