Tag Archives: prosthetics

UK Prosthetic and Orthotic Workforce Survey: We need your help!

Featured

Posted on by

Why are we conducting this survey?

We are undertaking research to gather information on the prosthetic and orthotic workforce in the UK. The study aims to capture a wide variety of demographic and work-related information about the UK prosthetic and orthotic workforce. Currently, workforce data for people working within the prosthetics and orthotics profession is incomplete resulting in an unknown national workforce picture, which prevents accurate service planning and projection requirements. The project has been funded by Health Education England through the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO). The findings of the study have the potential to influence future service planning.

Who do we want to complete the survey?

We want to gather information on all individuals working within the prosthetic and orthotic profession which includes:

•            Prosthetists/Orthotists

•            Prosthetic/Orthotic technician

•            Prosthetic/Orthotic support worker

•            Prosthetic/Orthotic student/apprentice

Survey update

  • The survey has now been running for 4 weeks but we need your help to get more responses, from all professions across the UK. We know that there are 1,124 registered Prosthetists/Orthotists in the UK today and so far, we have only had responses from 30% of this population.
  • We have a low response from technicians, support workers, students, and apprentices.
  • We have a low response from Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland.

To complete the survey, click here or scan the QR code:

There is a chance to win a £100 retail voucher, the survey closes 18/11/22.

Staffordshire University Professor is set to deliver a keynote lecture at the next ISPO world congress in Mexico.

Featured

Posted on by

International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) organises biennial World Congresses. This is ISPO’s flagship conference and is a unique forum where the global community of professionals involved in the care of persons in need of prosthetic, orthotic, mobility and assistive devices comes together to learn about the latest scientific and clinical advances, products, innovative technologies, designs and materials in P&O care provision with the global health services.

The next world congress in 2023 is titled “Art and the Science” and will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Four renowned international professionals Rosielena Jované, Sophie de Oliveira Barata, Professor Stefania Fatone and Professor Nachiappan Chockalingam will present keynote lectures around the congress theme The Art and the Science.

For more information on the congress please visit: www.ispo-congress.com/en/news/inspiring-keynote-speakers-expected-at-the-ispo-19th-world-congress

Here’s the preview from our own Nachi Chockalingam.

Calling for Early career Researchers in India interested in Diabetes and Assistive Devices

Featured

Posted on by

The Centre for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Technologies at Staffordshire University, UK is looking to establish a network of like-minded early career researchers in India interested in the area of rehabilitation and/or mobility assistive devices (e.g. footwear, orthoses, prostheses, wheelchairs) for people with diabetes. The goal of this network will be to establish national collaboration between early career researchers within India and international collaboration with Indian institutions and Staffordshire University.Centre for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Technologies

Ideally you should:

· Have a PhD related to the area of rehabilitation or mobility assistive devices for people with diabete
· Be employed at an Indian University or Research based Institution.
· Be an early career researcher who is currently within their first five years of academic or other research-related employment.
· Ideally with a good range of internationally peer reviewed journal publications.
· Below the age of 40 years.

If you are interested please email Dr. Aoife Healy (a.healy(at)staffs.ac.uk) with a short resume including a list of publications or provide a link to your ResearchGate/Google Scholar profile by Monday 22nd July 2019.

Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of Prosthetic and Orthotic Interventions

Posted on by

An Infographic on the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Prosthetic and Orthotic Interventions

The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) in partnership with the WHO, and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), recently published Standards for Prosthetics and Orthotics Service Provision. These Standards were developed to encourage better access to prosthetics and orthotics services.

To support the development of these Standards we were commissioned by the ISPO, in partnership with WHO and USAID, to conduct a systematic review.

What was the context to the project?

It has been estimated that in excess of 100 million people across the world are in need of a prosthesis or orthosis. However, it is projected that only 1 in 10 people in need has access to prosthetic and orthotic devices. To date no one has completed an overall examination of research examining orthotic and prosthetic interventions across healthcare.

What was the aim of the project?

The aim of this project was to complete a systematic review of the research to date which has examined the effectiveness of prosthetic and orthotic interventions.

How was information gathered?

Searches across 14 databases were used to capture all research in this area.

What were the main findings?

A large volume of research has been conducted in this area, however, there was limited high quality prospective studies. 319 English language randomised controlled trials were identified with only 4 of these examining prosthetic interventions, the rest examined orthotic interventions.

At present, for prosthetic and orthotic interventions, the scientific literature does not provide sufficient high-quality research to allow strong conclusions on their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

Key statistics

  • The database searches resulted in a total of 28,958 articles.
  • 346 randomised controlled trials were identified, of which 323 were English language. Of the 323 English language RCTs, 319 examined orthotic interventions and 4 examined prosthetic interventions.
  • Orthotic interventions were categorised by the medical condition/injury with 68 categorises identified.
  • The most studies conditions were:
  • Osteoarthritis (30 studies)
  • Fractures (26)
  • Stroke (22)
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome (20)
  • Plantar fasciitis (18)
  • Anterior cruciate ligament (post-surgery) (16)
  • Diabetic foot (15)
  • Rheumatoid and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (13)
  • Ankle sprain (10)
  • Cerebral Palsy, Lateral Epicondylitis, Low back pain (8 studies each)

What are the implications of the findings?

This review highlighted the vast range of outcome measures utilised with few studies reporting on the same outcome measures. It was also evident that studies in general did not assess if the prosthetic or orthotic interventions allowed the users to participate in the activities of daily living in which they wished to perform, which is the major consideration for the user. There are many methodological issues within this area of research which need to be addressed to strengthen the quality of future research, which would then allow conclusive decisions to be made on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these interventions.

Link to full article:

Healy A, Farmer S, Pandyan A, Chockalingam N (2018) A systematic review of randomised controlled trials assessing effectiveness of prosthetic and orthotic interventions. PLoS ONE 13(3): e0192094. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192094

Funding:

This work was supported by the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) (Sub-grant from ISPO’s Collaborative Agreement with USAID Rehabilitation of physically disabled people in developing countries – USAID cooperative agreement DFD-A-00-08-00309-00).