Both new and experienced unilateral lower limb amputees (LLA) describe difficulties when ambulating intentionally and independently from one place to another using prosthesis. In LLA, this decreased ability to mobilize affect daily functioning and may result in low activity-levels, impeded social participation and reduced health-related quality of life.~Both primary and secondary rehabilitation of LLA have implications for functional mobility. The consensus among health professionals is that LLA should train to improve their ability to ambulate. However, knowledge from research regarding which elements that constitute effective training and how systematic exercise affects body structures, functions, activity and participation in lower limb amputees, is limited.~There also is a lack of knowledge of how prosthetic users endure and process the challenges regarding mobility, how they adapt to the use of their prosthesis, how safe they are ambulating using the prosthesis, and how pain and psychosocial issues affect their perceived health and mobility.~The aim of this Ph.D.-project is to explore how a period of semi-standardized individualized rehabilitation originating from an evidence-based approach, affect the functional mobility of both new and experienced LLA, and how LLA process the loss of a limb and challenges during ambulation.
The goal of the project is to explore which elements of rehabilitation that influence mobility in new and experienced unilateral lower-limb amputees.