Experiences of Prosthetic Breakdown and Repair: NHS Perspectives

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Experiences of Prosthetic Breakdown and Repair: NHS Perspectives

  • IRAS ID

    346630

  • Contact name

    Lesley Davidson

  • Contact email

    l.davidson3@edu.salford.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Salford

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    4847, University of Salford Ethical Approval

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 1 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    The maintenance and repair of upper and lower limb prosthetics (artificial limbs) are under-researched areas with little qualitative data to support the design of repair and maintenance services in the UK. The very small number of previous studies have examined quantitative patterns of repair retrospectively (Nagaraja et al., 2021). Other studies relating to device preferences have touched upon repair and maintenance tangentially, mentioning frustration, anger, avoidance of particular activities and changes in behaviour linked to repairs (Franzke et al., 2019). Yet no studies have examined repairs and maintenance from the users’ or NHS staff perspectives in the UK. This study will use exploratory qualitative methods informed by a pragmatic, ethnographic approach including (a) observations during site visits to NHS trusts (2) semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups. The study will be open to prosthesis users and those involved in their care such as family members, carers and NHS staff members.

  • REC name

    North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    25/NW/0175

  • Date of REC Opinion

    22 Jul 2025

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion