Objective and design: A systematic literature review to compare mobility scales used for lower limb amputees. A literature search was carried out by computerized search of biomedical literature including Medline and Embase. The studies included were published between 1978 and 1998 and including the following keywords: amputation, artificial limbs, prosthesis, lower limb, activities of daily living, mobility.
Results: Thirty-five studies were identified; 19 had a measurement of separate levels of mobility comparable to each other. Sixteen studies used ordinal and ratio scales without separate levels of mobility. The widest range of measurement found was the scale from 'walking with prosthesis without a walking aid' to 'totally confined to bed'. The Stanmore Harold Wood mobility scale was published most frequently. None of the 35 studies presented give a continuous measurement of mobility.
Conclusion: A multitude of measurement scales and questionnaires are available for differ in methods and measuring range. Measuring mobility by a scale has been shown to have limitations. Several authors did extensive research but they all measure only a number of aspects of mobility. Consensus about the measurement of mobility of lower limb amputees is not available in the recent literature.