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Table 528 reveals that amputees experienced physical, psychosocial and vocational
problems. Psychosocial problems, especially depression, were expressed by all amputees
(25) 1000/0, as loosing a limb causes anxiety and makes one uncertain about life.
Financial problems were also a major issue for (23) 920/0, because even amputees who
were getting disability grants were breadwinners and the disability grant is too small to
support the family. Another major problem was vocational, whereby the majority ofthe
amputees experienced unemployment (23) 92%. Even amputees who had undergone a
fuJI work assessment were never employed. Another psychosocial problem that was
experienced by most amputees was housing that was not suitable for adaptation for the
amputees (20) 80%, since there were no modifications done, doors were small and the
house itself small and restricting movement in the house. Physical problems were the
inability to use a prosthesis (10) 40%, as these amputees ended up by not using the
prosthesis, with non-fitting of the prosthesis (5) 200/0, as patients did not get enough
support from home. The stump needs to be molded or coned in preparation for fitting into
. the prosthesis and septic stump wounds occurred in (5) 20% cases, due to inadequate
wound care. Some amputees experienced rejection, stigmatization and poor perception
(4) 16%. Environmental barriers also posed a problem to adaptation ofamputees at home,
namely, pit toilets far away from the houses (5) 20%, bumpy sloppy yards (4) 16%, no
driveways (3) 12%, and ifthey were available, they were very muddy and slippery, and
unable to be used on a rainy day (2) 8%.
These problems may seem to be minor, but when not attended to become major issues as
stnmp wounds could become septic such that the client may even require revision ofthe
stnmp. Financial problems and unemployment became the predisposing cause for all the
problems, as amputees defaulted follow-up appointments, could not care for themselves
physically or psychosocially and became stressed as they could not provide for their
families. Among these amputees there were those who visited local health centres but
could not get relevant care, as there were no resources.
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