This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Singh, R. Articles by Philip, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Singh, R. Articles by Philip, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Depression and anxiety symptoms after lower limb amputation: the rise and fall

Department of Neurorehabilitation, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, UK, rajiv.singh{at}sth.nhs.uk

David Ripley

Department of Rehabilitation, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

Brian Pentland

Department of Rehabilitation, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

Iain Todd

Department of Rehabilitation, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

John Hunter

Department of Rehabilitation, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

Lynne Hutton

Department of Rehabilitation, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

Alistair Philip

Department of Rehabilitation, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

Objective: To examine the time course of anxiety and depressive symptoms over a three year period after amputation.

Design and settings: A prospective study in inpatients admitted to a rehabilitation ward after lower limb amputation.

Subjects: Successive admissions over a one-year period of whom 68 were alive at follow-up, 2—3 years later.

Interventions: Nil.

Main measures: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) on admission and discharge from inpatient rehabilitation and at a 2.7(SD=0.4) year mean follow-up period with correlation to demographic and patient features.

Results: Of the 68 responding patients, 12 (17.6%) and 13 (19.1%) had symptoms of depression and anxiety respectively. This compared to an original incidence of 16 (23.5%) for both on admission and 2 (2.9%) on discharge. This rise in incidence from time of discharge was highly significant for both depression (P<0.001) and anxiety (P<0.001). Depression at follow-up was correlated to depressive symptoms at admission (P=0.03) and to having other significant comorbidities (P=0.02). Anxiety symptoms were commoner in younger patients (P=0.03). There was no association with age, gender, living in isolation, vascular cause for amputation, wearing a limb prosthesis or length of original inpatient stay.

Conclusions: Depression and anxiety are common after lower limb amputation but resolve during inpatient rehabilitation. The incidence then rises again after discharge.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 23, No. 3, 281-286 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0269215508094710


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Unwin, L. Kacperek, and C. Clarke A prospective study of positive adjustment to lower limb amputation Clinical Rehabilitation, November 1, 2009; 23(11): 1044 - 1050. [Abstract] [PDF]