An environmental scan of limb loss rehabilitation centers across Canada

Sander L Hitzig^{1

2}, Diana Zidarov^{3

4}, Crystal MacKay^{2

5}, Steven Dilkas^{2

5}, Fayez Alshehri^{1

5

6}, Rachel Russell¹, Jorge Rios¹, Colleen O'Connell^{7

8}, Jacqueline S Hebert⁹, Heather A Underwood^{10

11}, Sheena King¹¹, Audrey Zucker-Levin¹², Natalie Habra^{3

4}, Jan Andrysek^{13

14}, Ricardo Viana¹⁵, Michael W Payne¹⁵, Susan W Hunter^{15

16}, Nancy L Dudek¹⁷, Krista L Best^{18

19}, Catherine Mercier^{18

19}, Vanessa K Noonan²⁰, Joel Katz^{2

21}, Brittany Mae Pousett^{10

22}, Jan Walker², William C Miller²³, Amanda L Mayo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ St. John's Rehab Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation (CRIR), Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay-de-Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
⁵ West Park Healthcare Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Atlantic Clinic for Upper Limb Prosthetics, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada.
⁸ Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
⁹ Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹¹ GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹² College of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
¹³ Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁴ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
¹⁶ School of Physical Therapy, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Medicine (Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation), The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
¹⁸ School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
¹⁹ Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (Cirris), CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
²⁰ Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
²¹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
²² Barber Prosthetics Clinic, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
²³ Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

PMID: 39503467
DOI: 10.1097/PXR.0000000000000405

Multicenter Study

An environmental scan of limb loss rehabilitation centers across Canada

Sander L Hitzig et al. Prosthet Orthot Int. 2025.

. 2025 Apr 1;49(2):248-255.

doi: 10.1097/PXR.0000000000000405. Epub 2024 Nov 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ St. John's Rehab Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation (CRIR), Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay-de-Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
⁵ West Park Healthcare Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Atlantic Clinic for Upper Limb Prosthetics, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada.
⁸ Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
⁹ Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹¹ GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹² College of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
¹³ Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁴ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
¹⁶ School of Physical Therapy, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Medicine (Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation), The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
¹⁸ School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
¹⁹ Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (Cirris), CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
²⁰ Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
²¹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
²² Barber Prosthetics Clinic, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
²³ Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

PMID: 39503467
DOI: 10.1097/PXR.0000000000000405

Abstract

Background: The clinical landscape of limb loss rehabilitation across Canada is poorly delineated, lacks standard rehabilitation guidelines, and is without a shared clinical database.

Objective: To address these gaps, the objective of the present study was to undertake an environmental scan of the rehabilitation centers across Canada that provide inpatient and/or outpatient services to the limb loss community.

Study design: An environmental scan was conducted to describe the rehabilitation service structure, program services, and outcome measures of sites across Canada.

Methods: A survey was sent to 36 rehabilitation centers providing care to people with amputations.

Results: Of the 36 centers, 31 completed the survey (11 = Ontario; 8 = Quebec; 6 = British Columbia; 2 = Saskatchewan; 2 = New Brunswick; 1 = Alberta; 1 = Manitoba). Twenty-five provided both inpatient and outpatient services, 1 provided inpatient care only, and 5 provided only outpatient services. Interprofessional services were provided to a wide range of upper extremity amputation and lower extremity amputation patient populations. Range of motion was the most commonly collected outcome for both patients with upper extremity amputation and lower extremity amputation. With regard to prosthetics and orthotics fabrication, 9 of the sites had these services on-site while 15 had off-site fabricators, 6 had both, and 1 provided no response.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight that limb loss rehabilitation and prosthetic care delivery is variable across Canada with respect to clinical team members, locations of services, and complementary services such as mental health treatments and peer support groups.

Keywords: amputation care; limb loss; outcome measures; program services; rehabilitation; services structures.

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References

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An environmental scan of limb loss rehabilitation centers across Canada

Affiliations

An environmental scan of limb loss rehabilitation centers across Canada

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical