Effect of Sports-oriented Rehabilitation on Mobility and Daily Activity in People With a Lower-limb Amputation

Mobility is one of the most important factors in the quality of life of people with a lower-limb amputation.However, many experience limited mobility and show less daily activity compared to healthy individuals. 61% of amputees does not reach a level of sufficiently active in daily life and only about 15% of the Dutch amputees regularly participates in sports. Physical inactivity is known to increase the risk of comorbidities, especially among amputation patients who already have a higher prevalence of vascular diseases, diabetes and osteoarthritis. It is clear that sufficient daily physical activity is important to optimize the health and quality of life of amputees.

A simple way of increasing activity in amputees is increasing their standing and walking duration during the day. Walking is known to require more energy in amputees than in healthy individuals due to their lack of active function in their prosthetic leg. Higher aerobic capacity, higher muscle force and the absence of comorbidities in amputees were already related to better walking ability. Therefore, increasing strength and cardiovascular fitness would presumably result in higher daily activity, physical health and quality of life among amputees.

To improve physical capacity and sports participation in people with a lower-limb amputation, the Sint Maartenskliniek (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and Dutch football club N.E.C. Nijmegen developed a new exercise program: Fit en Vitaal. Participants perform a six-week training program with three training sessions each week (fitness, aqua-fitness and a sports and play session) under the guidance of movement agogue. Thereafter, they continue with a low-frequency movement intervention during which they attend various sports clinics once a week for eight months. As social support and contact with peers are important factors in sports participation for amputees, the Fit en Vitaal program was designed as a yearly returning program with a fixed group of participants at the start of each year.

This exploratory study aims to evaluate both the direct and indirect effects of the Fit en Vitaal program on people with a lower-limb amputation. Therefore, the primary objective is to evaluate the effect of the program on walking ability, functional mobility and oxygen consumption during walking. As a secondary objective, the effect on daily physical activity at home and experienced quality of life is examined. It is expected that all will improve after the first six weeks of training, and the effect will remain after finishing the eight-month low-frequency training.