The impact of a customized aesthetic prosthetic leg cover on social interaction cues and attitudes in the general UK population: Two experimental studies.

Objectives: To explore the impact of an aesthetic prosthetic leg cover on attitudes toward individuals with lower-limb amputation and associated social interaction cues among the general UK population.

Study design: Two novel experimental methodologies.

Methods: In study 1, participants (n = 188) viewed 1 of 3 images of an individual: (1) wearing a traditional stem prosthetic, (2) wearing an aesthetic leg cover, or (3) as a nonamputee. They then completed an attitude scale and rated the personality of the individual using the 10-item Big Five Inventory. Study 2 (n = 31) used eye tracking and facial expression software to explore gaze and facial arousal when viewing 1 of 9 manipulated videos of the same individual talking about 3 different scenarios.

Results: In study 1, the aesthetic leg cover led to significantly higher ratings of agreeableness than stem and nonamputee images and significantly higher ratings of extraversion than the nonamputee image. Attitudes toward an individual with a prosthesis did not significantly differ depending on which image they viewed and were generally positive. In study 2, all participants focused mainly on the individual's face regardless of scenario topic or leg condition, although participants focused more around the leg cover in more active contexts.

Conclusions: Customized aesthetic leg covers may help individuals living with amputation to be perceived more positively in social situations. These experimental methodologies could be extended to explore the differential impact of context, functionality, and activity of specific types of customized aesthetic prosthetics and could help inform shared decision-making processes in clinical settings.