Iranian Journal of War and Public Health

  Objective : Amputation of lower limbs accompanying with serious problems like social, economic, personal and domestic that makes life difficult. As a result of Iraq-Iran war, 578 survivors through bilateral lower limb amputation live in Iran. The purpose of this study was to investigate service satisfaction reported by Iranian bilateral lower limb amputees.

  Materials & Methods : In this cross sectional study, all war related bilateral lower limb amputees were invited for the interview and 335 participated (response rate= 58%). Information about time of injury, the level of amputation, level of education, employment status and rate of the perceived services satisfaction were recorded using a questionnaire.

  Results : The mean age of the cases was 42.1 (SD=3.6). The majority of the cases were male 97.6% (n=327), and married 97.6% (n=327). The average time after injury was 22.3 (SD: 3.9) years. About Two-third (n= 237) were unemployed. The most common type of amputation was both below knee 37.6% (no=133). The most service satisfaction reported by amputees was educational facilities and rehabilitation, and the least satisfaction belonged to sport and recreation and health services. The most important problem in receiving health care services was waiting times for appointments and treatment 72% (n=241) and lack of some specialties in small cities 23.2% (n=78).

  Conclusion : According to results of the study, improvement in accessing to health care services and sport and recreation facilities can lead to higher service satisfaction in war related bilateral lower limb amputees.